A Very Bad Idea
by Anonymaton
Summary: 20 years since Godzilla's disappearance from San Francisco, a mysterious organization has finally crossed the line. Through use of a new genetic splicing technique, they have created human-Godzilla cross-species. However, one has broken loose and they aren't happy to let it run wild
1. The Beginning

**So, this one took a while to get right. I had a few unpublished goes at this and hated all of them, but I finally got it. This is a rewrite of an older story. Actually, it's more just using the framework of the old one with a few tweaks. Hope you like! This is a contributor to the big plan I've been working on for some time, btw.**

 **This is an updated bit at the beginning since I had someone ask this. This series should be considered to be, mostly, the Agents of Shield to the MCU. As in, stuff that happens in the movies gets referenced and there is small overlap, but you shouldn't expect the A-listers from the main movies to show up. They'll show up in this, like Godzilla and the other monsters, but it's not the primary focus.**

 **Well, enough of that. Enjoy the first chapter!**

A man stood amidst the collapsed ruins of several city blocks, looking over the still form of the most powerful creature on earth. The body of the enormous reptile had several bleeding wounds on it's back and neck with blood dripping from them. One was especially close to the ground. The man manuevered his way to the open wound and pulled a clear cylinder with a long needle on the end. Inserting it into the wound, he extracted the blood from the beast and stole away, making his way to a car that was located a few blocks away from the destruction. Once inside, he grabbed his phone and made a call.

"I've retrieved the first sample. What is the status of your extraction?"

"We've made extractions from both creatures and are en route to the Hub. Over and out."

The man smiled. This is exactly what they needed to complete their research.

* * *

It was now twenty years later, the year 2034. Godzilla had not surfaced since then and has proven to be untrackable. Many countries have started developing countermeasures for other colossal monsters that may one day appear. One of the many scientists who have entered this field is Doctor Edward Yorburg, an expert in biology and nuclear physics, specializing in the mutative properties of radiation on biology. He was based in New York. His research had opened many new doors and had progressed many fields forward. Today, he was very excited.

"Rothstein, come look! I've cracked it!"

The man, Rothstein, came rushing over to look at a computer monitor that Yorburg was staring at.

"I don't believe it... You actually did it!"

The screen displayed a strand of DNA with a focus on one particular section. There was a formula next to it as well as a simulation.

"With this, we can finally begin the true work we've been building towards for twenty years! My god, it has been so long! Call Gamma and let them know that we're ready to commence the program."

Rothstein hurried off while Edward grabbed his coat and rushed to the parkade the lab he was working at. He could barely contain his excitement. Soon, all his research would finally bare the fruit he had been cultivating for so long.

He drove as fast as he could to the docks and leapt out of his car. He hurried to a sleek looking boat with a man standing at the wheel.

"Onward to evolution." Yorburg stated as he climbed aboard. The man nodded.

"Hold on. We're waiting on Rothstein."

They waited roughly five more minutes before Rothstein showed up and stepped inside.

"Onward to evolution."

The man nodded again and they sped off into the ocean. Once they reached what appeared to be nowhere, a submarine breached the calm waters and rocked the boat slightly. Yorburg and Rothstein got out and climbed aboard the sub. Once they were inside, they moved off into the deeper waters.

After some time, a shape appeared in the dark waters. It gradually became clearer until they could see a massive, underwater hanger with doors open to them. The sub glided inside and the doors closed behind it. The water drained enough for the sub to surface and a bridge extended from the wall, allowing the two scientists to disembark. They went straight to a large open lab and walked to a glass tank at the back. Inside was a pulsating blob of flesh with several needles on tubes connected to it.

"Still in prime condition! Those cells are indeed a marvel."

Yorburg nodded in agreement.

"As long as it continues to provide us with DNA for our program, we keep it alive. Now, do we have a list from the DNA tests we acquired?"

Rothstein nodded and pulled out a transparent tablet from the folds of his coat.

"We have five thousand that have the gene, but seven who have the DNA combination we deemed most ideal. We can deploy teams to acquire them when you give the word."

"Do it as soon as possible. We've worked too long and too hard to wait longer than we need to."

Rothstein nodded and made a quick call. Yorburg smiled even wider. Now he would make the next advancement in human evolution a reality!

* * *

In a high school, far off in Manitoba Canada, a boy named Grey sat in history class, bored out of his mind. He hated history class with a burning passion. It wasn't the subject itself that inspired such ill will towards it. It was just that his teacher spoke in an unbroken monotone that was so calculated and robotic, not even the most passionate history students could listen to him without sinking into the deep dull after a few minutes. Even the other staff acknowledged that drops in marks during that class could be attributed to the fact that the teacher just made it so... boring.

Grey was sixteen and stood about 5'7. He had short black hair and green eyes and like to wear a grey hoody with a green and orange coloured zipper and laces in the hood.

Grey snapped to attention when he heard the bell ring, signaling the end of the class and they end of the day. Grey couldn't get out of there fast enough. He rushed out the door and ran home as fast as he could. When he got home, he saw his younger brother and sister, who were twins and ten years old, watching TV while his dad was busy peeling potatoes for dinner.

"Hey knucklehead, how was school?"

Grey rolled his eyes at his nickname.

"The usual. Sorry, but I have to go take history class again."

"Seriously? Can't you just pay attention?"

Grey groaned.

"Look, I told you already that everyone, I repeat, everyone has to do this. Just call the school and ask them. Hell, half the tutors people hire are for history class! I would kill to know why he hasn't been fired yet."

His dad shrugged.

"Ah well. So, you ready for tomorrow?"

Grey nodded excitedly. Tomorrow he was going for his final test to get his driver's license. He had been looking forward to this since two weeks ago when he realized how close he was. Tomorrow was a Saturday so he didn't have school to worry about. His younger brother leaned back on the couch.

"You can drop me and Snickers off at school!"

"Don't call me that, Mark!"

Sam, nicknamed Snickers by Mark because she stole all the snickers out of his Halloween candy three years in a row, had a very peeved look on her face. Grey laughed a little. It was always entertaining to watch them go after each other rather than him for a change. Of course, he had countermeasures for that. One such being the electronic lock and alarm he had built in his electronics class at school. He had attached them to his door a year ago to prevent them from sneaking into his room from that point on. They had so far proved to be an excellent deterrent from the two troublemakers.

Grey strolled into his room and pulled out his history textbook and looked at where he had marked the pages he needed to read. He always did so before a lesson so as to ensure that he could take notes down when he got home. He worked away for a couple hours before switching to his chemistry homework. He was about a quarter of the way through when he heard the door open and close. His mom must have just gotten home. That indicated that it was time for dinner. He pushed himself out of his seat and walked to the dining room. Everyone was already seated.

"So, anything interesting happen today?" His mom asked. Grey shrugged.

"Well, Matt almost blew up a capacitor in Electronics today. He mixed up the polarity when he made the connection. The thing puffed up like a balloon before we pulled the battery and made sure the thing wouldn't blow."

Everyone laughed a little at his story. Mark and Sam had something to share.

"We got to watch a movie about volcanoes in class today!"

The family continued to chat as they ate their meal. Grey was the first to excuse himself, heading off to finish his homework. He finished after another half hour and decided to play a few video games before coming out to say good night to everyone. He took care of his evening rituals before climbing under the covers and dozing off.

* * *

Yorburg stood in front of a small gathering of people who were seated around a table. He was pointing to various parts of a screen, talking about what he was trying to accomplish. One of the assembled raised their hand.

"So, how exactly does your formula work?"

Yorburg's eyes brightened dramatically.

"An excellent question! Twenty-two years ago, I discovered a unique and fascinating strain of DNA That a small percentage of humanity has developed. As to what this strain does, well, it does nothing. Absolutely nothing, unless it is exposed to some sort of external reactant. For example, should one be bitten by a poisonous snake and have this gene, there is an incredibly high probability that this person would develop a resistance or outright immunity to the venom entirely! The serum I've developed will allow me to manipulate how this gene mutates. We could use this to render humanity immune to disease, create a man as strong as twenty men, even create a cross-species organism! This last one is especially important. The serum in question will cause people with this gene to gain the powers of the famed King of Monsters!"

The group looked around at each other.

"We expect successful results in one week."

Yorburg spluttered.

"I need more time than that! Our candidates won't be here for another week at least!"

"Fine, two weeks. We want a successful prototype in two weeks. Start working."

Yorburg nodded gratefully. Two weeks was still a bit tight, but he could make it work. He best start synthesizing the serum. It would take time and precision.

"Rothstein, how are the retrievals going?"

"We have two of them en route to the Hub. The other five are being tailed as we speak."

"Very good. I'm just beginning the synthesis now. Get the holding pens ready. If my calculations are correct, we will need extra reinforcement for after the procedure."

The two men kept at their work. Twenty years they had been working on this. Now it was time.

 **So, it's a little short. It's because we have to save some stuff for the other chapters. More stuff for my big plan. It's going to be so beautiful... Or not, You'll be the judge of that. Creativity? Anything to add?**

 **Creativity: Yeah! I want more time at the beginning of the chapters! How are the readers gonna know who I am if I'm stuck at the end of each chapter?**

 **Author: Well, they could just read New Dawn (Old title, might be different by time of this reading) Or anything else that comes out with you in it.**

 **Creativity: Want more opening time!**

 **Author: Well, if you're gonna be such a big baby about it...**

 **(Closes eyes and Creativity becomes a baby)**

 **Creativity: I hate you. You know that right?**

 **Author: I know. I also know that I sign your pay check.**

 **Hope you keep reading once we're out of this short period. See you next time!**


	2. The Work Commences

**Hello again! I'm enjoying writing this. Now, I have every intention of releasing this, but I have no idea when it will happen, as of this writing. So, popularity might be lower than anticipated, but what the heck.**

 **Creativity: Well, at least we have the other projects in the works! Heck, some of them might already be out!**

 **Author: SHHH! If they don't know now, we don't want to spoil anything! We must continue with the plan!**

 **Anyway, here's chapter 2!**

Grey was feeling really great about life. He had passed his driver's test without a hitch, he had nailed his most recent math test and to top it all off, he had made enough money to upgrade his workshop!

Grey had a fascination for electronics and since they had a rather spacious garage, he had set up a workstation for himself to tinker when the mood struck him. His most recent upgrade included a new power supply, soldering iron and spare tips for his old and new ones, as well as a few other tools.

He was currently seated at his work bench, trying to slide an IC chip into place on a noise detector he wanted to attach to a string of LEDs, when his dad called for him. He set down the circuit board and walked into the house. His dad was working on the computer.

"Sam has a birthday party to go to and I'm swamped with work. Can you drop her off?"

Grey shrugged.

"Sure. What time should we leave by?"

His dad checked his watch.

"I'd say fifteen minutes or so."

Grey nodded and went to find his little sister and make sure she had everything she needed for the party. As it turned out, she was so excited that she took care of everything before his dad had called him. So, when it was about time to leave, he got into the car and his sister got into the back seat.

The drive to the location was uneventful and after he made sure she was in the location and found the party, he started his drive home. He stopped at a stop sign and checked to make sure it was clear before heading across.

Suddenly, he heard a cracking noise and a sharp pain in his neck. He grabbed at his neck and his vision started to blur before he fell sideways. The car rolled to a stop as two men quickly ran over to the car and smashed the window before pulling Grey from the car and throwing him in the back of a large black armored vehicle. They drove off, making their way out of the city.

"How long will that drug last?"

"Should keep him out long enough for us to get him hooked up to something else."

They eventually reached a farm that had an airfield for a farmer's plane. They got out and hauled Grey with them as the hanger opened. Inside, there wasn't a jet, but there was a decent sized helicopter with a pilot making preparations.

"You got the canisters in the back?"

The pilot nodded and finished the preparations and waited for his passengers to strap in. Once he received the all clear, he pushed several buttons on the control panel. The roof of the hanger began to open and the floor began to rise until it was above the four walls of the hanger. The rotors began to spin and the copter rose into the air. It was a clean getaway.

* * *

Yorburg could barely contain how giddy he was. Thus far, their schedule was being adhered to very well. The serum was being synthesized without a hitch and they had already acquired four of their candidates and had six more en route to the base. They had sent word to their overseas branches to analyze blood samples for the gene they required for the formula to work.

There were several large canisters of green substance connected to machines that were regularly releasing puffs of cold vapor. He walked over to a large control panel that had several monitors above it. He tapped a few keys and the monitors showed six people from varying age groups. He turned to a lab assistant.

"Are the stations ready and the holding pens properly reinforced?"

the assistant nodded.

"Everything is prepared, sir."

Yorburg smirked and pushed a button for the intercom.

"We will be beginning the procedure in one hour. All teams begin prepping immediately."

The base immediately began humming with activity as people scrambled to various stations and gathered gear or specialized clothing. Soon, the hour was up and everyone was in position. Yorburg pushed a button on the control panel, which caused the chambers that the kidnappees were in to fill with mist. They all keeled over and then vents opened, funneling the gas out of the chambers. Several people in military-esq uniforms picked up the unconscious victims, loaded them onto gurneys and began wheeling them towards the room with the canisters of green substance. They lifted them onto the tables and strapped them down before placing oxygen masks over their faces. Once they were certain that everyone was secured and had an oxygen supply, they all moved off to the side and waited.

Yorburg moved over to a large red button and raised his hand.

"Onward to evolution!"

He slammed his entire fist down on the button. Immediately, the machinery above the tables jerked to life. Several syringes with a red light attached to them homed in on various points on each person's body before they poked under their flesh. The green substance began to drain out and into the bloodstreams of the victims. The needles pulled away and returned to the various indents they had come from. Then, a large box lowered down and opened, letting a green-blue light shine on them. Immediately, they began to thrash and scream in pain! Several of the people who had prepped the machinery rushed forward to restrain them. Two of them stopped screaming and lay limp. Their heads leaned sideways and blood began to drip from the corners of their mouths. The technicians moved away, seemingly shocked.

Soon, the rest of the victims stopped thrashing and lay still. However, they continued to breathe and their vitals had stabilized, at least for now.

They wheeled them back to their cells and dropped them on their beds. Yorburg was smiling like a madman. They may have lost two test subjects, but it looked like the other four had been an amazing success. He immediately called Rothstein and told him of the news.

"We're so close! I need those drones ready for tomorrow. I want to see what they are capable of."

"Of course, my friend. Also, you should have another subject arriving very soon. I heard from our branch up north that they made a retrieval a few hours ago and are en route. I estimate they are about fifteen minutes from landing."

Yorburg's smile widened.

"I'll begin prepping immediately. We have more than enough spare stations to begin the procedure."

Yorburg barked over the intercom to move the bodies to the morgue and clean up the blood, as well as start prepping an unused station. They immediately hopped to work and had his orders completed just as the latest test subject was wheeled in. They had him prepped and on the table in short order and moved to the side, ready to restrain him if need be.

Yorburg double checked the settings and pushed the activation button. The procedure was going perfectly until about halfway through the light sequence. The test subject's eyes snapped open to reveal his eyes had completely changed. He no longer had a sclera or iris. It was a reptillian yellow with a slit pupil. They also noticed that his teeth seemed to be sharper than usual.

Suddenly, he stopped thrashing and his eyes returned to normal. The technicians immediately locked him in a holding cell and left with all due haste. What they had seen had shaken them deeply.

Yorburg was intrigued by the reaction this latest test subject had to the serum. He informed Rothstein of this latest development and retired for the evening. There was much to do tomorrow and he needed a solid dinner and decent rest.

* * *

Grey's eyes cracked open and he started trying to sit up. However, his entire body seemed to protest the idea. He slowly managed to sit up and found he was on a very uncomfortable mattress with a thin blanket. He looked down and saw that he was just in some sort of sleeveless hospital shirt. His arms each had several angry looking holes in them which felt like stings from yellowjackets. He could also safely assume that they were on his torso as well since he felt the same pain there, as well as his legs. Suddenly, he felt extremely woozy again and fell back on the mattress, drifting off to sleep.

He stirred awake several hours later to find himself lying on the ground in some sort of chamber with two other people. Upon closer examination, he found that it was a boy and a girl. The boy looked to be roughly fourteen while the girl looked to be about his age or older. They were both clad in tight black shirts, similarly coloured shorts and black socks with black runners. Looking down, he noticed that he was too!

Another thing he noticed was that the sores he had when he fell asleep were gone. Suddenly, the air was filled with a high-pitched whine. Several quad-copter drones had flown in through a hole in the ceiling and started orbiting around them. Then, the whine was drowned out by the sound of a man.

"These drones are equipped with stun blasters. They are non-lethal, but they still can cause anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with one to suffer extreme pain. I suggest you destroy them before they find their mark."

Grey turned and yelped as two drones opened fire on him! He backpedaled and looked at the other two who were running to dodge the electrical blasts. He followed suit, keeping on the move to avoid the drones. How were they supposed to destroy them? They didn't have any weapons and they were out of reach!

He kept running and swore as he saw the youngest of the three of them get hit with a blast. He looked and saw a drone fire at him. He dove forward to dodge and felt a terrific blow to the top of his head. He stood up and rubbed his head and looked to see that he had put a large dent in the metal wall about two feet above him. He shook his head again, then realized that he had actually jumped that high and far!

He turned and ran at one of the drones, jumping and finding himself hurtling through the air and colliding with the drone. He pulled back a fist and slammed it into the main body of the drone and felt shock as his fist went straight through it! The drone plummeted to the ground and Grey stood up and looked at his fist. There were several minor scrapes on his knuckles and the back of his hand, but to his surprise they were already sealing up.

Then, he yelped as shock blast whizzed past him. He immediately started running again and started looking for the others. He could see that the girl had caught on and was busy tearing a drone to shreds. The boy on the other hand, seemed to be still a little disoriented from the blast. He was avoiding blasts, but his seemed to be stumbling alot more. Shaking his head, Grey leapt at another drone and tore off two of it's rotors. He spun and jumped at another one, grabbed it and slammed it into the ground!

He turned and saw two drones swooping down at him. He got ready to leap, but yelled as he got hit in the back with an electric blast. He fell to his knee and tried to stand up, only to be shot again. And a third time.

That's when something inside Grey snapped. His eyes snapped open, yellow and reptillian, and he turned to look at the drones. He snarled like an animal and leapt at them with a bellow. He grabbed two of them and smashed the against thre ground before slamming his fist down on the wreckage several times before whirling around and leaping at the third. He grabbed it and began tearing it apart. Soon, the drones were completely demolished. He stood over the wreckage, breathing heavily while balling and unballing his fists. The other two were looking at him strangely. The edged away a little when he snarled at the pile of scrap metal.

After a few moments, he began shaking his head and shut his eyes. When they opened, they were back to normal. He looked at his fist and at the destroyed drones before turning his gaze to the two others who were locked in this torture room with him. The looks on their faces didn't help his confusion or unease.

Suddenly, they heard a hissing noise and saw that the same mist that had knocked them unconscious earlier was filling the room. They started coughing, then they passed out.

* * *

Yorburg stood in the observation booth, stroking his chin. Rothstein was standing next to him, seemingly unsettled by the display of savagery by that particular test subject.

"Interesting. It seems that extreme pain causes him to enter some sort of animalistic rage. According to the readings, his strength increased dramatically for the duration of this little... Episode."

Rothstein shook his head.

"I'm not so sure we should be excited by this. When I looked into his eyes, they were filled with single minded, uncontrollable fury. I doubt we could stop him if he broke free and was enraged. Perhaps it's best we rid ourselves of him now."

Yorburg scoffed.

"Rid ourselves of him? He is perhaps the greatest example of what we are seeking! The sheer power he wields was beyond anything we projected the serum to produce! He could be the key to taking our endevours to the next stage!"

Rothstein shifted uncomfortably.

"If you insist. The other subjects have completed their course runs. Shall we procede to the next test?"

Yorburg nodded.

"Let us see how they handle a much larger opponent."

Grey's eyes opened slowly and he dragged himself to his feet. He was really getting sick of that knockout gas. Not as sick, however, of the lack of explanation of where he was, why he was there, and how he was suddenly able to tear combat drones to shreds with his bare hands!

He gazed around at his new surroundings. It was obviously a different room. This one was large and had a ring of platforms above them. He was back with the same two he had been trapped with before, but now they were joined by another group of three. He wasn't the first one awake. Two from the new group, which Grey estimated to be in their mid to late 20's, were already up and looking around. Grey bent down to check on the others, who were starting to stir. Once everyone had gotten up, the same voice filled the room.

"Now, you will be pitted against a piece of machinery we've been working on for security reasons. It should prove to be more of a challenge than the quad-rotors."

The ground began to rumble and the center of the room began to slide open. A hulking machine, covered in shiny armor rose on a platform up from the floor. It had two treads for movement, two arms coming from its torso, each had a nasty looking approximation of a fist, which was sparking. There was a second set of arms attached above the lower set. These ones had stun blasters, much like the drones. These ones were much bigger, however. The whole machine stood at roughly nine feet tall!

Grey backpedaled and leapt up to the higher platform. He could see that the others were either doing as he did, or charging forward to attack the machine. The attackers were met with the electrified fists and were launched into the walls!

This was going to be a very difficult fight.

 **And thus, we continue. Please drop reviews. They really help.**

 **Creativity: You keep saying that, but no one ever does.**

 **Author: Because we don't get the same traffic that other stories get.**

 **Either way, be back next week!**


	3. Side Effects

**More Godzilla goodness! So, anyone read my original run at this? I feel it was okay, but I think I made Grey a little too overpowered. That's something I'm going to remedy in this run. So, no flying for one. Two, he won't be able to make any real headway in a fight against something like the MUTOs. Fair warning, I won't really be going into Toho monsters much in this version. Now, there might be stuff that's similar to what they've done, but I won't directly refer to it as such. Mainly because I don't know the original lore, researching it has just given me a headache, and I have other monsters I want do. Well, there is one monster that I'll use, but that's it! You'll know it when you see it.**

 **Wow, long opening note is long. Let's just get to why you're really here: Chapter 3!**

* * *

Grey couldn't imagine his agony could get any worse. He and the group he had been thrown into had scrapped the security robot, but not without taking significant damage. He suspected two of their number to be dead and he was damn near close to it.

He had been unlucky and gotten nailed by a wildly swinging arm, which broke three ribs and his lower arm!

He had passed out from the pain during the fight and when he woke up, he was strapped to a large table, unable to move, and felt like his bones were trying to crawl out of his skin!

He could see two scientists standing with their backs to him and they were speaking in hushed tones, but to his surprise, he could make out the words.

"The bones were unnaturally thin. Is it a side effect of the serum?"

"Of sorts. According to the scan, his bones have started to compress, thus making them denser. The snapping was probably a point where the bones were still in transition. I've hit him up with a mixture of raw material his body can use to maintain a proper skeletal structure, but we should be careful. Other systems of organs might start behaving similarly and we must know as soon as it starts, lest say, his heart shrink and cause irreparable damage."

"What of the others? Are they experiencing similar symptoms?"

"Some of them. I did not expect the serum to affect all our test subjects the same way. Ah, good. The scan is done. Hmm... It seems his muscular system is starting to behave like his bones. I'll give him a dose of material for that as well."

Grey slowly fell back unconscious, confused by what these men were saying. Bones compressing? Shrinking heart? What was this all about?

His thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly felt great pain in several points on his body, namely in the space between his two top ribs, his upper and lower arms, his upper and lower legs, and his neck. He gritted his teeth and waited for the pain to end. Suddenly, he felt something else being stuck in his arm and he passed out.

* * *

"Are you sure it's as simple as giving the body material to work with? I'm worried we may have rushed ahead with the project, perhaps run a few more simulations before moving on to human trials." Rothstein spoke. Yorburg dismissed this with a wave of his hand.

"We had the chemistry established months ago and we ran simulations with millions of variables. We were far more cautious than necessary. Had we waited any longer, the leader would have forced us to move ahead, or deemed us a waste of resources. I've worked to long and too hard on this to see it all amount to nothing."

Rothstein didn't comment. They kept walking until they reached a room with several video screens. There were people seated at one screen each, all calling out details of what they were watching.

"How are the rest of our subjects doing?" Yorburg asked a man standing near the center of the room.

"Most of them our sleeping their wounds away. The regeneration works best when one is sedentary. Some of them are experiencing side effects. Two of them have sadly fallen victim to their internal organs failing. Several others are currently being operated on to counteract other side effects."

"What of the most promising?" Yorburg asked.

"Currently, we have four that have undergone the mutation without incident. We took blood and tissue samples to study for any other changes that may crop up in the future. Right now, they're back in their cells, also recovering."

"And what of the dead? What were the various causes?"

"Radiation poisoning, bones snapping and piercing internal organs, several of them just reacted violently to the serum. Their bodies gave up and shut down. There are others, but they all subcategorize into the causes I just provided."

Yorburg accepted a report that had everything written down on it for his personal archive and left without another word. Rothstein continued to accompany him.

"What about the most recent test subject? I know you dismissed this earlier, but I saw a… viciousness in him that wasn't present in our other subjects."

Yorburg smiled.

"Indeed. And I am eager to see more of it."

Rothstein wasn't as enthusiastic.

"I'm not so sure we should be encouraging it. I fear that if we don't do something about it, it could threaten everything we have built here."

* * *

Grey jolted awake. He was back in another cold cell with a thin sheet as opposed to a proper blanket. He stood up and noticed that he wasn't sore anymore. He rolled his arms a few times to test them and found them to be perfectly fine! No broken bones whatsoever! He stood up and tapped his foot on the ground a few times, noting that the sound seemed louder than usual. He heard a clanging noise and turned to see that a meal had been delivered. It was a large portion than before. He grabbed it and went about clearing it. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until this point. After half an hour, he had finished the meal and put the tray back where he had found it. However, once he finished eating, he started to feel woozy again. He stumbled over to the cot and collapsed on it, his eyesight blurring even more as he went. Had they drugged his food?

* * *

Yorburg looked confused.

"Why is he unconscious? We gave him additional food to prevent his glucose from dropping too low."

Rothstein looked at the data and rubbed his chin before rubbing his head.

"We forgot about his gamma intake. Look, his condition is deteriorating in tandem with his Gamma levels."

Yorburg smacked his forehead.

"How did we overlook that? Well, I suppose that now would be as good a time as any to move forward with the next experiment. Gas him, just to be sure, and move him to Lab 02 and prep him. This next test is going to be very important."

* * *

Grey was taken to the aforementioned lab 02 and strapped onto another table. The technicians wheeled in a large machine that looked like some sort of weird mix between a giant flashlight and a giant hairdryer. While this was happening, several other technicians attached small probes to Grey's body. They all connected to a device attached above Grey's heart. Rothstein and Yorburg walked in, both of them wearing what appeared to be a very elaborate hazmat suit. Several other scientists and technicians joined them in similar attire.

"Begin powering the emitter!" Yorburg ordered.

The machine began to hum. Small vents along the 'barrel' of the machine began to glow with blue light. The hum built in pitch until Yorburg held up his hand.

"Begin!"

The lens on the front of the machine suddenly began to emit waves of blue light from it. The light washed over Grey, who seemed to visibly relax. Yorburg smirked and looked at a tablet in his hands. According to the readings, Grey would soon reach his optimal Gamma levels.

"Begin shutdown in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Now!"

The machine was shut down and Grey was moved into an 'airlock' of sorts and had a mask strapped over his nose and mouth before he was lightly misted with a transparent vapor. The other scientists we doused with a heavier mist before they left. Grey was taken to another large, round chamber and fitted with his test suit. He was left lying down while Rothstein and Yorburg stood within a room with a direct view to the chamber Grey was in.

"Send in the same model of defense drone he fought when his bones were broken. I want to see what he's capable of now."

* * *

Grey's eyes snapped open and he groaned with frustration. He was starting to get sick of being gassed and waking up in some unfamiliar surrounding. However, he recognized this room. And he didn't like it. This was the same chamber where he had several of his bones snapped in two.

He heard a familiar hissing noise and turned to see the same machine that had snapped his bones rising again. And he had no backup this time.

"Terrific." Grey muttered before leaping back as the robot launched several blasts of electricity at him! He continued to keep his distance and avoid the energy blasts as they came, but he knew that he wasn't getting out until he took out the machine. He leapt again and landed on a suspended platform, but was shocked when the supports broke and it crashed to the ground! Grey landed with relative ease, a look of shock on his face. He hadn't broken them at all last time!

He looked up and yelped as two blasts shot past him! He reached down and grabbed the platform he had broken before heaving it up in front of him. He smirked as he felt the blasts hitting the platform and snarled before throwing the platform straight at the robot! Needless to say, the robot didn't fair very well. It was completely trashed and beyond functionality. Grey smirked before groaning. The floor opened again and three robots emerged. These ones were smaller, but they were much faster and cornered well. Grey grunted as he leapt and dodged. These new robots were becoming a real pain in his backside.

He rolled out of the way of an incoming robot and saw another one baring down on him. He planted his feet and grabbed it as it plowed right into him! He gritted his teeth in pain and determination as he lifted the robot off the ground and over his head! He turned and hurled it at the second robot, utterly destroying it! He leapt over to the wreckage and pried two pieces of scrap free. He launched both of them at the final robot, turning it into scrap metal. He slumped over in exhaustion. Whatever they had done to him may have made him stronger, but it didn't do much for his endurance. Suddenly, a low hissing filled the air. He turned to see vapor being released from vents.

"Oh, come on!" Grey exclaimed before the gas hit his system and he collapsed unconscious.

* * *

Yorburg looked absolutely giddy.

"He's even more powerful than I thought!"

Rothstein was obviously of a different opinion, but he opted not to share it. He knew that Yorburg wouldn't be swayed. Instead, he waited in silence as they left the room. The test subject was being transferred back into their cell.

"Just think! If we can crack why the serum was so much more effective, we could raise the program to even greater heights!"

Rothstein indulged Yorburg a little while longer. That was, until sirens started blaring.

* * *

Grey waited carefully. He had held his breath long enough before the gas got to him, inhaling enough to put him out, but only for a few minutes. The moment he woke up, he waited about two minutes before he broke the straps holding him down and immediately seized the technician nearest to him and threw him into another! He whirled around and socked one of the guards, who was thrown down the hallway and collided with two other personnel before coming to a halt. Grey took off running, looking for anything that looked like an exit. He looked and saw several armed guards approaching. He groaned before balling his hands into fists and walking towards them. The guards pulled out stun batons and began sparking them, advancing on Grey as he approached them.

Grey snarled as he struck the first guard in the side. He could feel the bones cracking beneath his fist. He spun and slammed his other fist into the next guard's gut. This blow lifted him off the ground and into the ceiling. Suddenly, he felt pain erupt in his side. He looked to see a stun baton being held against his side. He grabbed the guard's wrist and pulled it away effortlessly. He spun and threw the man by the arm. However, he felt similar pain in his back and was tackled to the ground. He could feel pain erupting in his back, shoulders, sides, arms, everywhere. He tried to rise, but every time he was struck over the head with an uncharged baton. He kept trying. The pain only grew worse.

And right then, something awoke in him. His eyes turned yellow and reptilian and his arms became clawed and scaly. He bellowed in rage as he effortlessly pushed himself up and began to tear through the guards, seemingly impervious to pain. His claws dragged massive gashes in the guards' armor. Finally, the last guard was pressed against a wall, whimpering in fear as Grey stalked forward, his teeth bared in an animalistic snarl. There was one more sound from the guard, which ended in a gurgling crunch.

* * *

Yorburg and Rothstein watched from the security center as Grey viciously tore through each guard who was foolish enough to engage him. They watched in awe as Grey charged and made to gore a man's head with his claws, only to miss and sink most of his arm into the wall. The man struck him in the head with a nightstick and was immediately retaliated against when Grey grabbed the man's head and slammed it against the wall. Then, Grey turned to see several guards gathered down the hall. He heaved with all him might, tearing a chunk of wall out underneath his arm and hurled it down the hallway, slamming into the guards and putting several holes in the walls that were in the chunk's way. Grey stormed out of view of the current camera (Several of them had been destroyed in his rampage)

"Where is he going?" Yorburg demanded.

"His current path leads towards the main exit."

Yorburg snarled.

"How could he possibly know where to go?! He has no knowledge of the base!"

Rothstein gestured to the screen. Every time Grey came to a branching hallway, he would pause before his nostrils would flare.

"It seems that whenever his senses are overwhelmed with pain, his animal side becomes dominant, both physically and mentally. His senses become heightened, allowing him to trace a path to freedom."

Yorburg immediately opened a comms channel to the guards' headsets.

"Fortify the docking bay! Nothing gets out!"

Yet, it was all futile. Grey tore through their ranks with ease, leaving bodies, some alive and some not, strewn about his wake. They watched as he stopped in front of the water and he hunched over, seemingly in great discomfort. When he straightened up, the scales had spread, now covering up to just under his cheeks. He dove into the water and vanished from sight. Rothstein rubbed his temples.

"I told you we needed to be careful with that one. Now we have a test subject loose."

Yorburg huffed and crossed his arms.

"Inform all field agents that they will be receiving a new target to watch for. In the meantime, run a simulation to predict where he will leave the water."

Rothstein shook his head.

"Look back at the footage."

Yorburg rewound until they reached the point after he straightened out and the scales had spread.

"Zoom in on his neck."

The camera did just that, revealing a minute detail.

"Gills… So, he could be underwater indefinitely."

Rothstein shook his head.

"Not really. Remember when he finished his last meal?"

Yorburg smiled.

"Low Gamma levels. His instincts will drive him to seek ionizing radiation. Given his small stature in comparison to subject G, he should be able to survive off ultra-violet, even if absorbing enough would take ample time. He'll have to make landfall eventually, just to replenish his reserves. How long will it take before he runs out?"

"According to our calculations, he had roughly three days' worth of ionizing radiation stored before his body would start to experience problems functioning. Most likely, he'll surface after a maximum of two days. In that time, he could reach San Francisco, or anywhere within a ten-mile range of the shoreline."

Yorburg's smile widened.

"Send our agents this information and begin searching!"

"Sir!"

Yorburg turned as a man in a white uniform burst in.

"What is it? Can't you see that…"

"Sir, we've just received word from our agents in Monarch."

Yorburg immediately became interested.

"And? What did they say?"

"Sir, Monarch's satellites picked up a new MUTO. It's reportedly emerged from a gorge in South America."

 **Cue the dramatic three notes! So, for anyone who hasn't read the original story, I got Grey caught and broken out in one chapter. Not really interesting. I also made him able to shoot thermonuclear energy from his hands. That makes no sense. Now to be clear, he will be able to use thermonuclear energy, but I'm going to shake up how. Also, he won't be flying either. Might have said that already, but whatever.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, Grey was pretty stacked last time.**

 **Author: Yeah… Wow, I'm kinda nostalgic for when we had just started up! So many memories…**

 **(Goes back and reads old story) Annnnnd now I feel cringy. Whatever. See you next week!**


	4. Breaking it in and breaking out

**Post chapter completion edit:** **Hello everyone, I'm the author of the story. Recently I've had an influx of constructive criticism and, while I am grateful for it, I am sorry to say that I find it to be rather poor in execution. Particularly in the case of one guest reviewer who goes by Matt.**

 **Now, before you all get mad at me, I do not find the criticism to be insulting or over the top, or mean in any way. However, it is uninformative and the most recent one, left on this chapter, may have been jumping the gun. Allow me to explain.**

 **This next part may only mention Matt, but it is for everyone who may decide to leave a review or PM for any author, not just me. Matt, when you left the review on this chapter, you claimed that a character was already dead. However, I cannot recall any time that the specific character died, but one with a similar name did die earlier in the chapter. If I am wrong, this doesn't help me. All you have essentially done is notify me that there is a needle in a very large haystack. This would have been more helpful if you could tell me which chapter the character died in.**

 **As much as I love writing stories for this website, it's a hobby. And hobbies have to take a back seat when it comes to the real world. I work five days a week, have chores to do around the house and I am starting college in roughly two weeks as of this writing. Therefore, what little time I do have to write is going to be cut back on by the wood-chipper that is the real world. I want to focus on creating new stuff, as opposed to picking through the old stuff for errors.**

 **Also, I have no option for contacting you for further information regarding these errors. So, you have told me about the needle, and then left the room for me to figure it out myself. Again, time I would rather put towards new chapters for other stories.**

 **So I would kindly request that if you opt to continue providing constructive criticism that you either be more detailed with your criticism, or create your own account so that I can easier find errors and correct them. Heck, you could even be a beta reader for me, checking for errors that I miss before the chapter goes live!**

 **Sorry about the long speech, but I felt that this is just something I had to mention since I had no other recourse for notifying Matt in particular, and anonymous reviewers in general.**

 **We now present your regularly scheduled chapter!**

* * *

 **Greetings, fellow nerdlings. And welcome back to this story.**

 **Author: Oh, no. I'm not letting you try and tell one of your 'spooky' stories. You never received any traffic when you asked if anyone wanted to read them, so don't try to smuggle one in here.**

 **Creativity: Why… You… Darn.**

 **Author: That's right. Now get back on the wheel. This story needs as many ideas as we can get, so I want the B.T.I. filled to the brim!**

 **Well, now that we're back on schedule, Studio 616 is ready to bring you chapter 4!**

 **Creativity: I shall press the lightshow button!**

 **Author: No, wait, you don't know how to operate the Chair, you can't… (Creativity pushes button. Pandemonium ensues)**

 **Author: I've told you many times. Do, not, press, buttons, on, MY, CHAIR!**

 **Creativity: meep…**

 **Author: DOUBLE TIME ON THE WHEEL, IMMEDIATELY!**

 **Creativity: Sir… don't you think that's a little harsh?**

 **Author: Did I stutter?**

 **Creativity: Double time, sir!**

 **Author: AND DON'T FORGET IT!**

 **Well, now that that's over with, please enjoy chapter 4!**

* * *

Grey was lying on his back, half on a beach. It was high tide. The water was lapping up to just above his waist. The cloths he had escaped in were already wearing out, his shoes were gone and he was exhausted. He hadn't tried to get up for a while. When he came to, he was on this beach and it had been just approaching sunrise. By now, it was approaching noon.

He had noted that he was feeling much better than he had when he woke up. He rolled over and found that it was much easier to stand. He stood up shakily and looked at his clothing. It was ripped and torn, looking like he had been dragged over sharp rocks. He looked around and noticed that the beach he was at was rather secluded. There was evidence of an old fire pit as well as a trail.

He tried to take a few steps, but his legs gave out and he fell. His head was swimming. He dragged himself over to some rocks and leaned back against them. He could feel the sun beating down on him. Strangely enough, it felt rather nice. His consciousness slipped again and he fell fast asleep.

When he woke up, the sun had already half set. He heard laughter and footsteps approaching. A small group of people, who he guessed to be in their early twenties, emerged from the pathway. They were carrying a cooler, flashlights, beach towels and were all wearing swimwear. He started trying to rise again, but fell back down. His legs felt like jelly.

However, the attempt did alert the group to his presence, who immediately rushed to his side and helped him sit up properly.

"Woah man, easy! You okay?" one of the group. He was heavily tanned and had a sparse beard growing.

"How did you get here?" Another one asked. She was also tanned and was wearing a wide-brim hat. Grey groaned and rubbed his head, thinking of a feasible story.

"Me and a few friends were out boating and we hit something. Not sure what it was. I was sitting in the back. All I know is that I got thrown from the boat and woke up here."

They helped him to his feet and made their way back down the path, vocally noting how heavy he felt, before they all got in a large van. They said they were taking him to the hospital and continued to ask him questions as they went. He made sure to make them vague and uncertain. Once they got there, they checked him in and he was put in a room by himself. The performed a blood test and an X-Ray before leaving him alone in the room. He lay his head back and pretended to be asleep. In actuality however, he could hear everything beyond the door, including the doctor talking to his 'rescuers'.

"His bloodwork is still undergoing analysis, but his X-Rays were completely baffling!"

"Is there something wrong with his skeleton?"

"Hardly! What was baffling was that every time we switched the machine on, the X-Rays weren't rendering an image! We had to run the machine three times before we got a picture! And in addition to that, when we weighed him, he weighed an additional 76% what someone of his size should be!"

"How is that possible! He looks completely average!"

"All of this is a completely nonsense! I've never even heard of anything like this before!"

Grey couldn't believe his ears. How could he weigh double his original weight?! That would explain why the platform snapped though. Then he remembered what those two people had been talking about post his arms breaking. They had said that sections of his body were compressing themselves, so they gave his body material to work with.

And now that he thought about it, after the X-Ray tests, he had felt much better. Almost like he had consumed something heavily caffeinated.

His musings were cut short however, when a man in doctor's apparel walked in.

"Good evening, young man. I'm just here to perform a quick checkup and ask you a few questions."

Something within Grey was screaming not to trust this man. He remained impassive, but his muscles were tensing, ready to leap into action at the first sign of trouble.

"So, what is your name."

"Grey."

"Well Grey, can you tell me how you wound up on that beach?"

"Me and some friends were boating and the boat jumped on something. I was thrown from the boat and woke up there."

"Okay… Where do you live, Grey?"

"I'm from Canada. My friends and I were on a road trip."

"Very good… Now, where are we right now?"

Grey paused. He looked at the man. The moment he paused, the man's arm twitched a little. He looked at the man's sleeve and saw something very thin and shiny. A Syringe fixed to the man's arm.

Grey immediately leapt from the bed and pinned the man against the wall, crushing the syringe under his palm!

"Who are you, and why are you after me?" Grey demanded. The man just smirked.

"Help! This patient is having a fit!" He called out. Grey snarled and threw him out the door before grabbing the hospital bed and using it to smash a hole in the wall, revealing open air! He leapt through and onto the roof of a nearby building. He landed with minimal discomfort and kept running, leaping easily over the gaps between buildings. He hunched down and looked for any possible pursuers. He couldn't see any at the moment.

Deciding it was safe, Grey slipped into a back alley and saw a clothing store across the street. The streets were almost empty. He ran across to the back door and tore the door off it's hinges. He slipped inside and found the wires for the security cameras before scrapping them too. After selecting two sets of clothes and a backpack, as well as a pair of running shoes and a pair of hiking boots, he slipped out of the store and snuck out of the town. He felt bad for stealing the clothes, but he didn't have many options. He couldn't purchase any, even if he did have money. He stopped at a car on the outskirts and raided it for a handful of change before running out of town.

Grey had imagined many ways his future would look, but on the run because he was an escaped science project wasn't one of them!

* * *

Yorburg waited patiently as the technicians brought up a satellite feed of Monarch's latest discovery. The creature was large, but nowhere near as large as the famed "King of Monsters" That had appeared back in 2014. Yorburg put it at about fifty to seventy-five feet smaller than Godzilla. It was a quadruped, with it's two front paws having massive, shovel-like claws. It was stocky and had a triangular head with two long fangs poking out from under it's lips. It appeared to be subterranean in nature, as it's eyes seemed poorly accustomed to light. It also had very leathery skin as opposed to scales.

"Any new from our agent in Monarch as to what this creature is named?" Yorburg asked.

"None yet, sir. Though according to our man, Monarch did find some old cave drawings that resemble this creature."

"Where is it heading?" Rothstein asked.

"According to our simulations, it is making its way towards a nuclear power plant."

"No surprises there." Yorburg commented.

"It will be searching for sustenance after it's long climb to the surface. Send out a pack of drones to observe it and see if we can collect a DNA sample for analysis." Yorburg ordered. He and Rothstein stood up and walked out of the room.

"Any word on our escapee?" Yorburg asked. Rothstein huffed.

"An agent found him in a resort town in California, but he bolted before he could capture him. The man got cocky and has a fractured wrist as well as a few cracked ribs because of it."

Yorburg shrugged.

"Oh well. It's only a matter of time before we catch up with him. Upon his next sighting, the agent calls in a full squadron. I had our tech team start developing some gear yesterday. All of it is tailor made to stop a rogue cross-species."

Rothstein remained stone-faced.

"And what of our remaining subjects."

Yorburg smirked.

"Conditioning is well underway. In the event that our escapee manages to best a whole squadron, we can deploy them to reacquire him."

Rothstein nodded.

"And what of this new creature? Do you think that Godzilla will return to destroy this creature?"

Yorburg smirked.

"Oh, I'm counting on it."

* * *

Grey's eyes snapped awake as he felt a loud bump. He had managed to purchase fare on an interstate bus and was dozing at the back until he was shaken awake. Fortunately, he hadn't been reported to the authorities yet, though now that he thought about it, someone using a hospital bed to smash open a wall was a pretty unbelievable story. Whoever was after him obviously wanted to catch him theirselves, so drawing the police into it would be detrimental to the overall effort.

Still, he couldn't afford to drop his guard. He had his backpack resting in front of him, with his arms draped over it. He was wearing a dark green T-shirt, jeans, a dark blue hoody and black running shoes. He had his other set of clothes in the backpack, which was a black hoody with red zippers and trim, a light blue T-shirt, a pair of grey sweatpants and his hiking boots, He yawned and turned his head to look out the window. The sun was just reaching its apex. He looked and saw they were just entering Oregon. He kept his eyes peeled until they reached the first stop, where he got off. He was in Medford.

He kept walking through Medford, looking for an opportunity to make some quick money so he could board another bus. He was just passing an electronics shop when he noticed several people looking at one of the TV screens in the window. He looked to see what the fuss was about, and felt his jaw drop.

There was a gargantuan creature marching across South America, heading straight for the US. The current footage was replaced by footage from 2014 of a colossal bipedal reptile locked in a ferocious battle with two insectoid looking creatures. There was a large fonted text scrolling across the top, displaying the words: "WILL HE RETURN?"

Grey wasn't born when Godzilla had first emerged from the ocean to battle to two insectoid creatures from the news, but he had heard plenty about it from his history teacher and his biology teacher. Grey was transfixed by the news report. There was a man wearing a suit who was being interviewed about the monster. Apparently, he was from an organization that had been a secret government agency that revolved around the tracking, study and potentially the destruction of these creatures. The agency's existence became public knowledge shortly after the San Francisco incident. Monarch.

Suddenly, there was a breaking news flash and the screen cut to a satellite image of something very large in the ocean making it's way toward the creature that had just broken news. There was a new line of text at the top of the screen: "HE HAS RETURNED!"

 **Finally, Godzilla's getting involved! Yeah, I bet you guys were wondering where he was in this story. I intend to have him in it more than the movie, but not as much as the original run at this story. I want this to revolve a little more around Grey than Grey and Godzilla. Still, I think you'll enjoy.**

 **Creativity: I think this story will be awesome!"**

 **Author: No need to be a suck up.**

 **Sorry it's a little shorter. See ya next week!"**


	5. Bringing Punch to the Party

**Godzilla has returned… PRAISE BE UPON US ALL!**

 **Author: Don't get too excited. It's entirely possible he's not in this chapter much.**

 **Creativity: Party pooper…**

 **Author: This is actually going rather well in terms of writing. I mentioned this before, but I've written a few versions of this story after I called it quits on the original run, but none of them made it to the site. Speaks volumes that it took working on this on and off for two years to get it right (By my standards, anyway). I've seen people doing revisionism in these stories and with my old work, it just needed to happen. By the time this is published, I'll probably have already finished an older rewrite, so I hope you check that out if you haven't already.**

 **Enough with the opening shtick. Here's chapter 5!**

* * *

Grey watched the TV screen in awe. The footage of the creature in South America had been replaced by a live report of the legendary king of monsters making landfall several miles South of San Francisco. Grey was very glad he wasn't even in the same state as Godzilla when he hauled himself ashore. The footage showed Godzilla already trekking across land towards the first creature that had been spotted a few hours ago, according to the broadcast.

Grey shook his head. As crazy as all this was, he had to keep heading home. He turned and kept heading further into the city. Everywhere, people were looking at their phones, tablets, laptops, anything with a screen. He wouldn't be surprised if people around the world were tuning into the broadcast. Everyone was dropping everything to watch the report. To Grey's surprise, that extended to drivers and public transportation. Then he realized that earning money to get on the next bus to Washington was going to be much more difficult, if not impossible.

So, Grey kept going on foot. He walked for an hour or two before he stopped for a rest. He looked over people's shoulders to get a look at what was going on. Apparently the first creature had demolished a nuclear facility and was sucking it dry as Godzilla approached.

Grey was just getting ready to move again when he noticed a few people on the other side of the street that were also looking over other people's shoulders. They were all wearing different colors, but the actual clothing appeared remarkably similar. He looked closer and saw that they all had what looked like holsters for phones. Grey became immediately cautious. He started to casually amble, trying to appear as though he was unaware of them. However, when he stopped at a light and checked to make sure no cars were moving on the road, he caught sight of them walking in roughly the same direction as him. He crossed the road and kept moving, pretending to not know of his stalkers. He kept walking until he reached a back alley before slinging his backpack off and cracked his knuckles. Sure enough, the small group, which included some of the people he saw sitting down, had followed him. There were seven people in total.

They pulled out collapsible stun batons and sparked them before closing in slowly. Grey grabbed a nearby dumpster and shoved it at the group. Two of them were hit by the dumpster while the other five got out of the way before charging him. Grey grabbed a garbage can and slammed it into one of them before kicking another one out of the alley. He felt one of the stun batons hit his shoulder. It didn't hurt nearly as much as the ones from the base, leading him to believe that being collapsible sacrificed damage. Grey snarled and swiped his arm around, throwing one of his attackers back against the wall and knocking them unconscious. He then seized another of his pursuers and whirled them around in a circle before throwing them down the alley into another dumpster which dropped shut. The final pursuer picked up one of the batons and held it in front of themselves as they edged closer before darting forward to make to simultaneous strikes. Grey simply stepped forward and delivered an uppercut, launching them upward. Grey picked up his backpack and watched as the man fell onto one of the top fire-escapes. Grey leapt up the fire-escape and onto the rooftops, hoping that no one was looking up. He leapt across the rooftops, heading for the outskirts. He had almost made it when he heard a loud bang and felt a sudden sharp pain erupt in his leg!

He collapsed mid-stride and tumbled to a stop. He sat up and looked down at his leg. He could see a hole clean through the back of his calf. He could see the wound already starting to close, but it would take a minute by his estimate. He kept pressure on the wound, only now realizing that there was a sniper with their sights on him. He at least knew they weren't trying to kill him. He could see more people in disguise closing in. That shook him a great deal. Just how many people were working for the organization that did… whatever they did to him?

Shortly after the gunshot, there were screams from the streets. Grey was honestly baffled that no one had noticed the brawl that had taken place in the alley. Considering that he had shoved a dumpster into the street, taking two people with it, there should have been a few people investigating what had happened.

Checking the wound, he was relieved that the wound had closed enough to stop bleeding. He waited on the rooftop, hoping he was behind cover. Then he got an idea. He saw two people approaching, collapsible stun batons in hand. He resisted the urge to smirk when he saw a reflective flash across the street. Once the two people were close enough, he surged to his feet, ignoring the pain in his leg as he grabbed one of the people and spun them in front of him and twisted the arm holding the stun baton, forcing them to drop it. He backed up towards the gap between the building he was currently sitting on and building adjacent. He backed up carefully before throwing his human shield and dropping over the edge.

Once he hit the ground, he heard the squealing of tires and saw a massive vehicle, appearing to be a heavily armored van, park itself in front of the alleyway. Grey turned and smashed a door off it's hinges and charged through. He ran through, leaving a few people yelping in shock and yelling in anger. He kept going before smashing through another door and sprinting as fast as he could down the street. People looked on in shock and yelped when he pushed past them. He heard another vehicle pursuing him, pushing civilian vehicles being pushed aside. He also heard more people shouting when they were pushed aside. He looked back and caught a glimpse of people chasing after him, all carrying stun batons. He cursed and leapt onto a car, running across the cars. He almost reached the outskirts when he was struck from the side by a powerful blow!

He flew sideways and slammed into a wall. Grey pulled himself up and looked back at where he had been hit. There was a man in some sort of chunky armor. Grey saw his pursuers approaching, but they slowed down and waited as the armored man approached. Grey gritted his teeth and balled his fists. The man brought down a fist which Grey blocked with both arms. He was shocked by strength, but was not deterred. He pushed back and kicked the man in the chest, pushing him back several feet. The man didn't flinch. He charged them again and threw a punch. Grey blocked with both arms again and wrapped his arms arounds the man's fist before yanking and throwing him into a wall. He then charged and delivered two blows. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do against the arms. Grey took the opportunity to make a run for it. He was soon out of the city and in the open. Unfortunately, he wasn't out of the woods yet. He heard engines approaching and soon found himself surrounded by the large van, a relatively ordinary car, and two hummers. He snarled and watched as the van opened and two people emerged from the van. They both had some sort of pistol strapped to their waists and a stun baton with a perpendicular bar from the primary handle. Grey identified this particular weapon as a tonfa.

Grey groaned as they both flourished their weapons and charged him. Grey spun and drove his elbow into the first of his opponents before throwing a punch at the second. However, the blow was ducked under and Grey was punished with a stun tonfa being driven into his side. Grey yelled in pain and grabbed the arm holding the tonfa and spun, throwing them into one of the hummer. Grey turned to the attacker he had struck with his elbow, who was drawing the pistol. Grey charged and slammed into them before grabbing them and throwing them into the other attacker. He stormed over to the largest van and grabbed the underside and flipped it on it's side. He then kicked the hummers on their sides before proceeding to the 'ordinary' car and opened the door. Inside was a very scared looking man with a couple of other people with guns in the back seat. Grey closed the driver's door and opened the passenger door and crushed the first gun in his hand before yanking the first person from the car and throwing them away. He removed the second in a similar fashion before opening the driver's door again. The man had already unbuckled and fled the car as soon as Grey opened the door. Grey climbed in and shut the door and did a quick check of the dashboard. This car was significantly newer than the one at home.

"This is going to end very badly." Grey grumbled as he buckled in and put the pedal to the metal. The car sped off and back onto the road, heading off east. He suspected that this car would have a tracking device of some sort installed and he wouldn't be able to remove it without tearing the car apart to find it. He'd have to ditch the car soon. For now, he just wanted some distance between himself and whoever those people were.

* * *

Yorburg frowned as he watched the recording from the operatives that attempted to apprehend Grey. They had made too much of a show in trying to capture him, as well as underestimated him. Grey had demonstrated sharp wits and had incredible strength from the procedure. What most surprised Yorburg however, was that his animalistic side didn't emerge. However, the fact that he now had a car was going to be much more annoying. They wanted to keep their plans under wraps, so deploying helicopters, even disguised ones was going to be a big red flag.

"Where is he most likely to abandon the vehicle?" Yorburg asked the analysts who were looking at various screens displaying information.

"Most likely he'll drive it until it runs out of fuel, then continue on foot. Unless he finds some natural cover. He most likely won't enter a city after this latest attempt." The lead analyst responded.

"And He'll need to refuel on ionizing radiation soon. His natural instincts will drive him towards a radiation source, be it a rock to sun himself on, or an open glade, even a nuclear power plant. There aren't any within the range he could conceivably reach in the car, so he'll most likely be forced to sun himself for a while." Yorburg thought aloud.

"Remarkable how reptilian that actually sounds. Having to spend hours lying in the sun to keep his body functioning properly. Perhaps not cold-blooded, but the dependency on the sun is an interesting parallel." A voice mused. Yorburg turned to see Rothstein had just entered the room. Yorburg smiled.

"Ah, good to see you my friend. How are our remaining subjects taking to the conditioning?" Yorburg asked cheerfully.

"We're making strides. They're stubborn, I'll grant them credit there. But we've gotten to two of them. The rest we can just use a serum I developed when we make our move."

Yorburg turned back to the analysts.

"Well, at least we have something. Any word from our agent in Monarch?"

"None." Rothstein replied. "They've had to keep quiet. Too many transmissions and Monarch will catch on to us."

"Well, we've kept ourselves under wraps this long. I suppose it would be unwise to deviate from protocol in that regard." Yorburg responded distractedly.

"When he abandons the car, send in a small pack of stealth drones to search for him. Then send in a small detachment of soldiers armed with the power armor we built. The model 2's should suffice. One of them fared quite will against him earlier. Oh, and I want the director stationed in Medford to be placed in immediate contact. I want to have a few words with him regarding the rather… public display he made of trying to reacquire our most promising subject."

* * *

Grey grumbled under his breath as he sat on a rock, switching from his running shoes to the hiking boots. He had ditched the car about half an hour ago and decided to turn it into a wad of tin before making his way into the forest he had stopped beside. He finished doing up the last knot and kept heading out. He was just heading uphill through the forest, letting his feet take the lead.

He was really starting to wish he had a map or compass. Or both. He didn't have any idea where he was going, only a vague sense that there was something important ahead. He wandered on and noticed that the air was feeling ever so slightly cooler. After a few moments, he realized he was near a stream! He turned and followed it on a path perpendicular to his previous direction. He looked up at the sunbeams peering through the sky. It was well in the west. Night would be falling soon.

Grey picked up the pace and looked to see a rocky outcropping. Not a bad place to take shelter. He snapped some large branches of the trees with ease and set them up around the rock to make a temporary shelter. He crawled inside and opened his backpack. He had bought a couple of snack bars in Medford before he was chased out by… whoever those people were. He ate the first one before curling up against the rock and felt a sudden wave of exhaustion wash over him. He had been running most of the day and it had only just hit that he had been doing just that. He fell asleep quickly, completely oblivious to the world around him.

Unbeknownst to him as night fell, a small drone was flitting throughout the forest, searching for anything unusual. Soon enough, just as the moon had covered it's first quarter of the night sky, the drone found the sticks leaning against the rock outcropping. It switched to infrared imaging and found Grey inside. Yorburg smirked behind his monitor and ordered that a stealth team be sent in, with a small contingent of power armor wearers for backup.

The stealth team entered the forest and followed a second drone back to the first. They moved quickly and silently, not making a sound. Soon they reached the outcropping. The members of the team all pulled out small pistols with darts in them and trained them on the opening. There were small 'phuts' of pressurized air as several darts shot into the shelter. They waited a few moments before going inside and removing Grey's prone form, three darts on his side, leg and arm. They started carrying him out, but they only made it halfway back to the edge of the forest when Grey's eyes snapped open. And they had turned reptilian. His forearms suddenly became scaly and his hands became clawed. He snarled with rage as he broke free from his captors and charged them, claws prepared to slash and tear!

He grabbed one of the stealth team with one claw and ferociously hurled them into another. You could hear the hair-raising crunch of bones snapping on impact. Next, he slashed one across the chest, leaving four long gashes that turned crimson. Then he grabbed the final one and lifted them over his head before bellowing and throwing them down on the ground.

Grey snarled before stalking off into the forest. His eyes seemed to have a glow to them, making them stand out in the dark of night. Suddenly, he paused. His lips curled back, showing his teeth as he growled like an animal. He could hear a tromping as something heavy approached him. No, somethings.

Several men and women wearing the same bulky armor from earlier emerged from the dark recesses of the forest. Grey hissed and started to back up, only to realize that there was one behind him. He turned on the spot, seemingly trying to find an opening to flee. However, he obviously didn't find one.

The first man charged, rearing back a fist to strike! Grey jumped back away from the blow and slashed with his claws! They left deep gashes in the metal, but didn't breach the armor. Suddenly, he was struck from behind by a powerful blow that sent him to the ground! Grey snarled and reared around, throwing a wild, but powerful strike! The blow lifted the attacker off the ground before they slammed into a nearby tree. Grey turned and charged another, grabbing around the chest and continuing to push before he heaved, lifting the victim above his head. He spun and viciously threw them at the one of the last few standing. This person was able to dodge out of the way, but not before Grey let loose with several swipes of his claws, dragging them through the metal and peeling it back like a can opener. Finally, he threw a punch into the victim's unguarded chest, causing them double over and cough up a little blood before collapsing to the ground. Grey turned to the last. The one who had made the initial charge. Grey grabbed the man's arm and tore the armor off. He did it again with the chest. And the leg. He kept tearing the armor off until the man was left in a body suit. He punched the man in the head and kicked his unconscious body away. The he raised his head to the sky and loosed a guttural roar that caused any nearby creatures to flee in panic. Not too far away, it startled the livestock of a farm and caused had the farm dog cowering under the front steps.

Grey lowered his head and snarled before stalking off into the dark. The drones tried to follow, but they were stopped when a large boulder suddenly collided with them. Yorburg was flipping back and forth from infuriated to ecstatic while Rothstein looked horrified.

What had they created?

 **Do not make Grey angry. You won't like him when he is angry.**

 **Author: As fitting as that statement is, it's taken.**

 **Creativity: Phooey.**

 **Author: This one was actually pretty fun to write. Plus, we're getting close to something I'm really excited about. NO SPOILERS!**

 **Well, see you next chapter!**


	6. Catching On

**Hello everyone, and welcome back to the story. So, one thing I didn't start doing until I had completed my first 100k story is giving my stories covers. Now, I've only done it once, and it was a really basic picture I made using GIMP, and I feel that I want something a little more complicated for this story. I'm not an artist. Frankly, I'm amazed by some of the stuff people can create. So, I would like to ask if anyone would mind creating a cover for the story. It doesn't have to be too elaborate, it could just be Grey about to go berserk or one of those pictures of an animal that's done in parts so you can just tell what the animal is supposed to be, but do it with Godzilla, I don't really mind. In the event you are interested, tell me where to find it via PM and I'll check it out. Thanks in advance!**

 **Creativity: Side note, we hope people will send us artwork to use, but we don't expect them to. We get that the audience we have is not a big one and that's perfectly fine. The fact that anyone takes the time to check out our work is motivation enough to keep working on stuff like this. But seeing artwork modelled after something we created would be something truly special. A big thanks to our readers before we present chapter 6!**

"… However, it seems that the creature has sensed Godzilla approaching and is moving away, heading North. Godzilla is changing course as we speak, continuing to pursue. It is unknown whether or not Godzilla will be able to catch this creature, due to the difference in speed. We now go over to Jack Lawson who is with a Monarch representative."

"Thanks Audrey. I'm Jack Lawson and this is Miranda Johns from Monarch. Miranda, what can you tell us about these creatures?"

"Well Jack, there isn't a lot that we know. What we do know is that that they consume ionizing radiation to survive and retreated to absorb said radiation from the earth's core, and they are incredibly sensitive to seismic activity and small changes to their environment. As illustrated in 2014, it only took contact with the outside air to awaken the first creature that Godzilla did battle with. We suspect that the creature that surfaced more recently is not driven to breed as the first two were, but rather it was cut off from it's usual supply of radiation and came to the surface to find more."

"Does Monarch have a plan to get these creatures away from human civilization?"

"We have been trying to develop ways of luring creatures like this back into the ocean or away from cities and the like, but we do not know if they work or if the creatures would respond to it. We know more about the Mariana Trench than we know about these creatures, so we can only make educated guesses and construct devices accordingly."

"Right now, what's the quickest way to get Godzilla and this new creature back where they came from?"

"Well, right now I would have to say that Godzilla defeats the new creature and it retreats back underground. Godzilla would likely go back to wherever he lives under the ocean and we would just wait until the next catastrophe occurs. Godzilla most likely wants to kill this creature and the creature knows that and also believes it can't win. Thus, it flees. Monarch has started operating in conjunction with the military to try and force it back towards Godzilla, as well as keep both away from cities, but there's only so much we can do against creatures of that size"

"Well Miranda, thanks for meeting with us. I'm sure the audience appreciates that Monarch is doing everything it can to protect us all. Back to you Audrey."

Rick McStelskin yawned as he continued down the road in his big-rig. He honestly didn't care about the supposed 'monsters' that were apparently rampaging across America. All he cared about was meeting his deadline. He pulled into a truck stop and went to get a coffee. However, when he came out, he saw a kid stumbling out of the forest! The kid was caked in mud and looked dead on his feet! He took a few more steps before he collapsed in the dirt. Rick rushed over and gave him a quick check over. Nothing seemed broken and the kid was breathing alright. It looked like the kid was just exhausted. He picked the kid up, remarking to himself how heavy the kid was, and hurried back to the stop and stepped inside, asking if anyone was a doctor. When no one said yes, he got the kid into the truck and set off for Eugene, his destination.

Rick radioed ahead that he had to make a side stop before he could drop off his delivery. They were just reaching the kid's eyes snapped open and he flinched awake. Rick jumped a little but kept the truck steady.

"Easy there, kid. I'm just taking you to the hospital, make sure everything's working. You feeling okay?"

The kid took a few breaths before replying.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just cold and sore. Plus, my head hurts a bit."

Rick stayed silent for a few moments before he kept talking.

"Good to hear it's not worse. How'd you end up in the forest like that?"

"Me and some friends decided to go hiking. It was getting dark and we didn't know the way back to the car. We were trying to find our way back to the road when we heard something big in the underbrush. We all bolted but I heard Jim scream. We got separated after that. I don't know how long I ran for, but I tripped on something and was knocked out. When I woke up I just knew I had to get out of the forest. It was just starting to reach sunrise when I woke up."

Rick listened as they pulled into the hospital.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Grey."

After Rick made sure that Grey was properly checked into the hospital, he left to drop off his cargo. Grey was taken to have a checkup and had some tests done. Once the X-Rays were done, Grey felt significantly better. However, he decided to give the doctors the slip once night had fallen. He reluctantly broke into another outfitter, disabling the alarms and security cameras by tearing up the wiring and circuitry. He took a new backpack and gathered up his essentials again before equally regretfully taking a few hundred dollars from the cash register. He spent the night wedged between two dumpsters with a piece of rotting wood overtop to keep him dry as rain fell.

The next morning, he went to a local library and used one of the computers to do some research on international mail. He then deleted the search history and departed swiftly. After stopping to collect some paper and an envelope, he wrote a letter and left it at a post office before setting out. He had originally intended on returning home, but recent events showed that whoever was chasing him had no intention of letting up and that they were dangerous. He didn't remember a lot of what happened last night, but he could remember scraps. He could remember metal giving way to claws, several men and women being tossed about like ragdolls, and a powerful roar, to name a few of the pieces he had in his memory. No, he had to figure out what had happened to him. Then he had to get these crazy people to stop chasing him.

But for now, he just had to keep moving.

* * *

Dr. Vivienne Graham rubbed her temples. Thus far, everything related to Godzilla and this new monster was just creating more headaches. Every organization was hounding her for a solution that just wasn't there. She really missed the days of having Serizawa there to help, but he had retired a few years ago, having reached an exhaustion he wouldn't recover from. Monster hunting was hard work.

She was about to leave for another dreary meeting when someone rushed up to her and handed her a report. She opened and turned to them.

"We don't deal in human biology. Why are you giving me this?"

"Ma'am, take a closer look."

Graham took another look and felt her jaw drop. This was… impossible.

"That's not all. There's been a trail behind him." The man added, giving her an additional file.

"This report is from a California hospital, then reports of someone matching his description engages in a battle with armed forces in Medford before stealing a car with no one pursuing him, then someone with a near-identical medical report in Eugene escapes the hospital in the middle of the night?! And his body is much heavier than someone for his size, has a level of radiation that should be detrimental to his health, visibly improves after receiving an X-Ray?! What is this madness?!"

"Ma'am, what should we do?"

"Put an alert out for this… Grey. Do some research into his background of you can. If anyone spots him, do not approach him. Keep tabs on him and inform me immediately."

As soon as the man rushed off, Graham made up a contrived excuse to not attend the meeting and instead use a scan of Grey's face to bring up an internet search of him. According to what she could dig up, he was a Canadian citizen who lived in Manitoba. He was 16 and lived with his mother, father and twin siblings. According to his social media activity, Grey liked electronics and liked to put his creations up on his personal pages. However, what really caught her eye was that Grey had gone missing over three weeks ago. His family's car had been discovered idle at a stop sign, still running. But Grey was nowhere to be found. Police were still searching high and low for him. She decided to look into international reports, considering at appeared that Grey had been taken a pretty long distance and seemingly got free. Why hadn't he tried contacting his family or called the police to confirm with his situation? What was he hiding?

Then there was the mysterious militia he had done battle with very recently. That was two, maybe three days ago and no one had bothered pursuing him afterwards. In addition to that, no one had seen this militia again!

Breaking out of her musings, it seemed there were a number of kidnappings and disappearances within a week's timeframe of Grey's. Grey however, seemed to be among the most recent ones and was the only one to reappear. The fact that no one had caught onto this made Graham worried. This spoke to negligence, incompetence, or deliberate turning of eyes.

* * *

Grey had been on the move for a few days now. He was following a railway, hoping that a train would pass by and he could jump aboard, but so far there was nothing. He kept walking, one foot after another. His thoughts strayed back to Godzilla and this new creature. He found it rather strange that whatever happened to him coincided with the window of time that Godzilla resurfaced. He highly doubted that whatever happened to him was a direct cause, but it was just… strange.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a whistle further down the tracks. He turned to see a train approaching. When the engine had passed, he broke into a sprint before casually leaping into the air and landing on one of the half-platforms between two cars. He smiled to himself before settling in for a long ride. He had no idea where the train was going, but he also had a hunch that whoever was looking for him didn't know where he was going either. He pulled out a snack bar and ate it while he watched the country zoom by. Now that he had time to rest, he leaned back and took a deep breath before closing his eyes for a moment.

He opened them a few minutes later and his thoughts turned back to his family. He wondered what they were doing right now. It would be a while before his letter reached them, provided that it wasn't intercepted. He hoped they were coping okay with this turn of events. His thoughts then turned to his workshop. He hoped he could finish that LED Sound level project he'd been working on. That was something he had really enjoyed building. He'd probably have to get a new supply of Ferric Chloride when he got back. The last batch would most likely expire before he would able to go home.

The train's whistle blasted, causing Grey to jump for a moment before settling back into his relaxed posture and watching everything blur by. He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep until he was shaken by the train engaging it's breaks as it slowed down to enter the trainyard. As it slowed to a stop, Grey stood up and stretched before leaping clear and rolling upon impact. He looked up to see it was early sunset. He swiftly departed before anyone noticed, leaping easily over a chain-link fence before strolling off. First order of business was to know where he was. Next was to get a proper meal. After that, he would need to find a place to spend the night. There was probably a comfortable alleyway he could hide in, or maybe a bridge.

He walked down the street and was pleasantly surprised to find a local diner was still open. He went in and ordered a burger before sitting down at a booth. When his meal was delivered, he ate it in silence before departing. Now he needed a place to sleep. He was checking out various alleyways to see if they were good for hiding in when he came across a pair of teenagers being backed into one by some much larger teenagers.

"You know, kids shouldn't be out alone at night." The apparent leader sneered as he and his cronies approached the two terrified teens. Grey grumbled under his breath before slinging off his backpack and stepping into the alley.

"So why are you out here?" He called out. That definitely got their attention. They rounded on Grey as he dropped his backpack on the ground.

"Well, looky here! We got ourselves a real tough guy!"

Grey snorted.

"Well in comparison between you and me, definitely. I mean, you need four other guys backing you up to pick on two kids that are smaller than you? Pathetic."

"Why you..." The leader snarled before he charged Grey, throwing a punch. Grey let it hit, not even flinching. He then countered with his own punch, which threw the leader back several feet. The cronies seemed shocked for a moment, but then realized that they were supposed to attack as well. Grey merely punched one and threw another with ease. The other two realized that they were hopelessly outmatched and ran away. The leader stood up shakily, but soon found himself face to face with Grey again. And he did not look happy. Grey seized him by the front of his shirt and effortlessly lifted him off the ground with one hand.

"Go home." Grey snarled before tossing him to the entrance of the alley. The leader and the remaining cronies all ran off in a hurry. He looked back at the teenagers, who seemed shocked by this turn of events.

"That goes for you too." Grey added, but not as ferociously as he had done with the leader. They nodded and hurried out of the alley. Grey huffed and walked away. He'd need somewhere else to bed down for the evening. Eventually, he came to a section of highway that wrapped around and passed underneath itself, creating a nice sheltered area for Grey to bunk down for the night. He lay back against the wall and felt himself drift off to sleep.

Yorburg sat in a video call with the director of Medford's agent division. He had a disappointed frown on his face and the director seemed very nervous. His hands were wringing under the desk as he waited for Yorburg to speak.

"I trust you know why I called, director?"

"Yes sir. You called about the incident involving the escaped test subject."

"Indeed, director. You handled the situation with spectacular incompetence. You underestimated the target, you failed to use discretion, and most of all… You let it get away."

"I'm sorry sir. After the first batch of agents failed to contain him in the alleyway, I panicked and deployed vehicles and the armor. I shouldn't have acted so rashly."

"And yet you did. You see director, when a spectacle of this scale occurs, it becomes information that anyone in the world can find. Despite our best attempts, we cannot isolate this. It has become accessible to anyone with an internet connection. There is a heavy consequence for failures of this magnitude."

"I know sir, and I will pay the price."

"Indeed."

 _BANG!_

"Send word to our leader that we need a new director for Medford. As for the public knowledge, use it to our advantage. Look for tips as to where the subject has been. He may be off the grid, but he cannot escape those connected to it. I want any leads hunted down. This time, we will catch him. Plus, with the director's failure, we no longer need to maintain the same discretion. I want a squadron armed specifically to recapture our subject ready to move the moment we have confirmation. I want five squadrons of backup and ten for substitution. I want no mistakes this time.

 _Hey mom, dad. I know it must be crazy, receiving a letter like this, but I felt I needed to let you know that I'm okay. There's stuff going on that I don't understand, but I know is dangerous both to me, and to all of you. So, I have to stay away for a while. I'll be back as soon as I know it's safe. Oh, and tell Sam and Mark that they still aren't allowed in my room. It doesn't matter if I was kidnapped, it's off limits._

 **I felt like adding Grey's letter to his family just because. Note that I haven't specified whether or not they've received it.**

 **Creativity: People will start debating it soon, I can tell.**

 **Author: Here's hoping.**

 **Yeah, there hasn't been a whole lot of Godzilla yet. Just passing mention so far and it frustrates me too, but he can be difficult to write. The only stuff you can really do are his interactions with other characters and all I could make right now could be summarized as "Godzilla wrecked shit."**

 **Booooring. I'll get to it soon, but I feel like I need to get further in before I start really doing more in depth stuff with him.**

 **See ya next week!**


	7. A little Shock and Awe

**Welcome back! I have to say… I got nothing. I have no funny bits here.**

 **Creativity: We're completely spent on opening bits right now.**

 **Author: Yeah. Besides, do we even know how many people actually read these? I feel like I put a lot of effort into these opening bits and no one seems to notice.**

 **Whatever. Here's chapter 7.**

* * *

Grey grumbled as he slowly rotated his torso, feeling his vertebrate popping. He had slept moderately well and hadn't been bothered by anyone that night. Now that he thought about it, this was probably one of the more peaceful nights he had recently. No attackers, no breaking out of hospitals, it had been perfectly peaceful.

Grey finished making sure all of his joints were working properly before slinging his backpack over his shoulder and setting off. Ever since he woke up after being attacked in the woods, he'd felt a sort of pull in his brain. He'd been following it for a while since he had no where else to go. He kept going until came across an intercity bus. He bought a ticket and boarded before sequestering himself near the back. It was going to be a long ride, so he hoped he could get a little more shuteye that wasn't on concrete.

The bus departed and soon, the scenery was whizzing by. He watched it for a while before he looked around the bus. He finally had enough and shut his eyes to get some sleep.

It was a sudden bump in the road that roused Grey from his slumber. His eyes snapped open and his hands clenched into fists as his gaze began darting around. He shook his head and noticed they were arriving at their destination. He took a moment to contemplate the convenience of it as the bus pulled into it's stop. He disembarked promptly and started following the pull again. Whatever it was, it was getting stronger the closer he got to it.

As he was walking past another electronics shop, he saw that Godzilla and whatever this new creature was on all the screens. According to the report, they were heading roughly in the direction of the city was currently in! He groaned before he noticed something. Godzilla was approaching from roughly the North-West, while his brain pull was leading him South-East. Grey did not like what that was implying. His strange nightmares of scaly claws for hands while ripping through attackers were starting to become a lot more terrifying.

* * *

Yorburg was starting to become impatient. They had been running facial recognition for their missing test subject through every city camera, and they had only caught sight of Grey once before he vanished from the city. However, they were able to get a bearing in what direction he had been travelling in before he vanished again. He had been heading South-East, coincidentally in the same direction that Godzilla was approaching from! Yorburg smirked. The fact that the King had resurfaced was all too exciting. The potential to gather some fresh samples was too good an opportunity to pass up.

He had also received word from one of their oversea facilities that there had been a breakthrough with the two other samples they had recovered, way back in 2014. He had already requested that drones with protection from the effects ionizing radiation had on electronics be deployed to gather some fresh samples. Specifically, he wanted more blood samples from both creatures, as well as a sample of Godzilla's spikes if he could get it.

"Do we have any word on our test subject?" Yorburg asked.

"He showed up briefly on the course we plotted. He's definitely being drawn to Godzilla." A technician replied promptly.

"More likely his instincts are drawing him towards Godzilla's radiation. He is a source that isn't shielded like a reactor is, making it easier for his senses to find and pin down." Yorburg corrected haughtily.

"I want the squads ready to intercept once he is close enough to Godzilla to minimize exposure to the press. We must still maintain some subterfuge until we can make our move." Yorburg commanded before turning back to the screen.

"Once I crack the secret of the strain your DNA made, we'll finally be able to make our move." Yorburg murmured as his lips slowly bent into a thin smile.

"Sir, the creature is picking up speed. It will be on top of the test subject within the hour."

"What?! Deploy the troops now! The window of opportunity is shutting faster than we anticipated!"

* * *

Grey didn't know what to do. On the one hand, his brain was screaming at him to join the masses in fleeing for their lives, but on the other, he still felt that nagging sensation in his brain to keep heading towards what in all appearances was certain doom. Deciding that self preservation was the better option, he turned and started sprinting the other way. However, the massive crowd was making it much more difficult to move without bumping into someone. He turned and cut into a back alley, where he began to effortlessly climb up the fire escape. He leapt from one landing to the next until he reached the top of the building. He then turned and started in the same direction as before, leaping from one rooftop to the next. He kept travelling in this fashion for several minutes, checking on the crowd every now and again. He turned around and could see the massive creature approaching. While he could only make out it's silhouette, it was still incredibly intimidating. If not downright terrifying, that is.

Grey turned to keep moving, but he heard the sound of a large rotor behind him. He turned to see a large helicopter gaining altitude. The doors slid open, revealing many people wearing black body armor and carrying some sort of rifles. There was electricity sizzling on the ends.

Grey cursed before turning and running as the soldiers opened fire. He sprinted to the edge and leapt the furthest gap yet. However, he rapidly realized that he had overextended and was now on a downward collision with the side of the building. Luckily, he crashed through a window and rolled to a stop. He grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, ignoring his smarting bruises. He turned and kept running as the helicopter approached and opened fire again. He was on a floor composed of office cubicles, which had been abandoned when the Kaiju picked up the pace. He smashed through the cubicles as he heard the electric blasts impact behind him. He leapt forward and held his arms in front of his face as he smashed through another window and into another building. He could still hear the helicopter pursuing him.

Grey looked and saw he was close enough to the ground to safely jump. For him, anyway. He crashed through the window and saw that people were watching as this whole mess unfolded. Grey groaned with annoyance before he landed and took off running. The helicopter stopped descending, but it kept on top of him. The sound of the helicopter however, was replaced with the sound of screeching rubber. Grey turned to see several vehicles of varying sizes approaching. He turned and started running, leaping over obstacles and trying to out maneuver the drivers. As he approached an intersection however, he heard more vehicles approaching. He saw them approaching from the right, thus encouraging him to keep away. He kept running until he heard more approaching vehicles. Except now it was on all sides. On top of all this, several more helicopters had joined the chase. He was surrounded on all sides.

He spun on the spot, desperately looking for an opening. But he was well and truly boxed in. Several of the larger vehicles opened up and several troops rushed out. Their armor looked light, but they had strange, blocky devices strapped to their arms. They formed a circle around Grey and extended their right arms. Thin wires with claws attached to the end erupted from the devices, latching onto Grey. Immediately, Grey began writhing in pain as electricity coursed through his body. He collapsed to one knee, then began trying to rise. However, he only fell back down again when the electricity became worse. His mouth was stuck open in a howl of agony.

His eyes closed tightly in pain before snapping back open again, his iris' a burning, atomic yellow while his pupils had become slits. He snarled as he started to rise again, but fell back to both knees as they increased the weapons' potency. Grey's hands became claws and gouged out the concrete below him as he suffered. Suddenly, his eyes pulsed a vivid electric blue for a moment. Then again, this time, it was his eyes, as well as the blood vessels in his neck. It began to spread. Blood vessels pulsing blue with increasing frequency until he howled and a blast of electric blue energy erupted in a bubble from his body! The soldiers were thrown back and the claws attached to his body were destroyed. He slowly rose to his feet. His hands were still claws, but his eyes had turned back to normal. In addition to this, his blood vessels had settled into glowing blue, albeit with less intensity. His skin was also a very angry red, as if his entire body were sunburnt.

He snarled and charged the first of his assailants. He seized them by the front of their uniform, his new claws tearing through the material without effort. He then turned and hurled them at another of the troops. He then charged over to a hummer that had been parked as part of a ring to box him in and sank his claws into the two side doors. With a mighty heave, he lifted the vehicle above his head and bellowed as he hurled it at one of the helicopters. He heard screams as the helicopter was struck dead on and began to careen out of control. He saw a crowd had gathered, seemingly having forgotten about the giant monster that was rapidly approaching. His distraction cost him, as one of the troops managed to snag him with another claw. He felt the shock, but he didn't go down. Instead, he loop his arm around the cable and yanked it, pulling the soldier into Grey's awaiting reptilian fist. He heard the helicopters turning to open fire, so he rushed behind one of the largest vehicles there, which had eight wheels and was armored like a tank, before turning it on its side. He waited behind it until he heard the crackling of the rifles stop. He then dug his claws into the underside of the vehicles and snarled as he lifted with all his might! He felt it leave the ground and turned sideways before throwing it at another helicopter. The throw actually caught another after hitting the first, making Grey smirk. He turned to see the other troopers were hesitant to attack him now. He made an exaggerated snarl at them, causing them to turn tail and flee.

However, his satisfaction at handing the ass of whoever was hunting him right back to them was short lived when he felt the ground shaking. It wasn't a constant tremor, but a gradually building quake. He bent his knees as the quakes continued to grow until he collapsed to his knees. Everyone else followed suit before the ground began to crack. Twelve blocks down, the ground was suddenly flung into the air as a massive, triangular head with two long fangs poking out the front emerged from the ground. It snarled and raised head before letting out a skull-rattling bellow! It sounded like some bizarre mix of a tiger and a gorilla.

Grey started to slowly back away and his blood vessels stopped glowing. He immediately felt like his entire body was sunburnt, but only for a few moments. He soon joined the mob as they began to flee for their lives. The soldiers who he had been tossing around like beach balls all piled into what vehicles were still functioning and fled themselves. Grey looked over his shoulder as he saw the massive beast haul itself free of the concrete. It was even larger than Grey had realized and it looked very angry. It snarled and roared, stomping its forelegs on the ground. It's shovel-like claws carved huge gouges through the earth and shook the city in a demonstration of sheer power. Grey leapt up the fire escapes again and started to transverse the rooftops. However, he didn't get too far before his brain's incessant nagging forced him to look where he wasn't going, causing him to wipe out. However, he could see what this weird instinct was pulling him towards.

Godzilla could easily be seen on the horizon, approaching step by thundering step. Within a few minutes, he had reached the outskirts of the city before he stopped dead. He raised his tail and slapped it on the ground before rearing back and unleashing a guttural bellow that shook Grey to the bone. Godzilla's challenger roared back and began to charge, making loping strides towards the king of monsters. Godzilla surged forward, claws outstretched to rend his foe asunder.

The two titans collided, stopping dead before they started exchanging blows. Grey stood atop the building, transfixed by the battle. The instinct had dropped silent.

* * *

Yorburg watched in awe as Godzilla and his opponent brawled throughout the city. Godzilla was demonstrating a consistent tactic of trying to keep the other monster close by grabbing it, be it with his claws or his teeth. He would grab it and hold it while letting his impressive jaws inflict damage. Meanwhile, his opponent would often bludgeon Godzilla's torso and sides with its arms as well as bite at Godzilla's head when an opportunity presented itself, putting it's fangs to good use.

The creature broke free of another hold before it lowered itself onto all fours and leapt forward, headbutting Godzilla in the chest. Godzilla was forced back a distance, but countered by spinning around and clubbing his opponent with his tail. The creature reeled back, yelping as it did. Then it sank it's front claws into the street and carved a massive piece of the ground free. It heaved this projectile at Godzilla, who turned to the side and let the projectile hit. He then turned and lumbered forward, claws outstretched.

"Incredible…" Yorburg breathed.

"The sheer power… The destruction. Look on, my friends! This is the power we will claim for ourselves!" Yorburg proclaimed. Rothstein just watched the battle, stoic as ever.

"Are the sampler drones prepared?" Yorburg asked.

"We have them in the area, sir. But we can't find an opening. There's just too much movement for us to lock onto an open wound and collect samples." A technician replied.

"Send four drones on a run. I want those samples." Yorburg ordered.

"Oh, and send in some of our special retrieval drones to probe for the test subject." Yorburg added.

 **Yeah, another shorty, but I feel this was a good place to leave it. Chapters will get longer as time goes on.**

 **Creativity: This one was a real workout for me.**

 **Author: Only because you went for those extra super stuffed donuts.**

 **Creativity: Details!**

 **Author: Whatever.**

 **See ya next week!**


	8. No Rest For the Weary

**Post chapter completion edit: So, I went back to look over my work since I'll be starting to upload again, and I noticed that I hadn't done my line breaks in this chapter. Sorry about that. Rather, I'm sorry this isn't and update, but I'll be back in a week! Until then, hang tight and HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

* * *

 **I AM THE GOD OF DESTRUCTION!**

 **Author: Oh jeez, who let him in the VR machine?**

 **Well, Creativity is… otherwise occupied, so I guess I'm doing this opening bit myself. Honestly, I really don't want to know what he's simulating right now.**

 **Here's the new chapter I guess… I'll just be off sorting out this… problem.**

Grey watched from a few blocks away as Godzilla and his opponent continued brawling, occasionally leaping to another rooftop when he felt it prudent to get further away. They had been battling for what felt like hours now. He could see news helicopters circling around, capturing the footage of the two behemoths. Grey was mesmerized by the battle, but that changed when he heard a loud humming noise. A small group of what appeared to be quad-copters shot overhead, making a beeline for the two monsters. They broke off into two groups, each heading for a monster. However, Grey could hear a louder buzzing noise. He turned to see several more drones flying in strange formations overhead. However, they all suddenly paused. Grey looked down at himself to see small circular grids on his body, which all narrowed into singular dots.

"Fantastic." Grey muttered before he turned and leapt to another building. He heard the sound of those oh so familiar electric bolts colliding with the rooftop behind him. He looked over his shoulder as he ran, seeing the drones all moving to pursue. He cursed as he saw them revealing additional cannons that began firing rapid-fire. He dropped down into an alleyway and picked up an empty garbage can. He waited a few moments before he heard the buzzing and threw it up at one of the drones. It wasn't destroyed, but it was disabled.

Grey ran out of the alleyway and began sprinting towards the two battling monsters. He could hear the drones circling around to continue their pursuit. As he kept running, he grabbed a car door that had been left open. He tore it free as he ran past, then grabbed another. He gripped them by the interior handles, using them as shields to deflect the electric bolts.

However, this had noticeably slowed him down. The drones were pulling ahead much quicker now and he was now facing fire from the front and rear. He turned sideways and knelt behind his shields, letting them bounce off. However, that didn't cover the two other angles of attack. Grey realized that he was being sandwiched just as they opened fire. He leapt up and over the bolts before throwing the doors at two of the drones. He only hit one, but it was enough. When he landed, he sprinted through his opening and kept running towards Godzilla. Finally, he was close enough. The ground shook with each thundering step, threatening to send Grey tumbling to the ground. Finally, he was close enough. He leapt with all his might, straight over Godzilla's foot. He could see it stumbling back, but it would surge back when he moved to counterattack. Grey was just starting to clear it when he saw it tense and start to move back. Bracing himself in case he was kicked like a pebble, he hurtled clear of Godzilla's leg. However, the drones weren't so smart. They smashed headlong into Godzilla's leg, blowing up in a fantastic manner. Grey smirked and kept running, trying to put some distance between himself and the two combatants.

* * *

"Clever! Very clever!" Yorburg remarked jovially as he clapped his hands together. Rothstein remained impassive.

"He won't be any good to us if he becomes a stain on the pavement." Rothstein muttered.

"Oh, don't be such a grump!" Yorburg lightly jibbed. "He's evaded capture for several weeks and he has proven why. That was a very clever and risky attempt, but he proved why we need him back. Our soldiers could learn a thing or two from him."

Rothstein still remained stony faced. Then he noticed something.

"Yorburg, it appears that we have friends incoming."

Yorburg zoomed in on what Rothstein had pointed out, then began to splutter with rage.

"No! We can't let them find him! If they get him it could jeopardize our entire organization! Deploy an attack drone to knock them out of the sky! No witnesses!"

* * *

Grey kept moving, trying to get away from the fight. He leapt across rooftops and occasionally checked to see if he was being followed. Thus far, he had been more fortunate.

"Feels like every other day, those people catch up with me and I have to chase them off again." He muttered to himself as he leapt across another rooftop. As he kept going, he noticed one of the helicopters was getting rather close to the fight. He stopped and squinted, trying to get a good look at the logo on the side. Then he recognized it. That was Monarch's symbol. It made sense that they would show up here. They'd been a prominent figure in the last clash between giant monsters. Why wouldn't they show up to this one?

He was about to turn and keep moving, when he heard a familiar buzzing.

"Oh come on!" Grey shouted in frustration as he turned to run, but when he saw the drone, it wasn't aiming for him. In addition to this, it was much larger and had several small bumps all over it. Seemed rather inefficient for an attack drone. However, the bumps snapped free and revealed themselves to be micro-drones. They all flew off towards the news helicopters while the larger one converged on Monarch's helicopter. Grey watched in horror as the drone opened fire, shooting the helicopter's rotors, causing it to begin spiralling out of control.

Grey didn't think twice. He turned and ran towards where it was going to crash. He watched as the tail of the chopper swung through a building, causing large chunks of concrete to be tossed everywhere. He kept above it before leaping down to the ground. The copter crashed to the ground, dust everywhere. He leapt into the wreckage and began searching. He dragged the pilots free first, pulling them to the safety of an alleyway before leaping back into the wreckage. He found three more people, who he grabbed under his arms and over his neck before leaping free. He hid them with the pilots but soon found himself under attack from the drone.

"Alright, I've had enough." Grey growled angrily. He charged back to the helicopter and grabbed large pieces of loose metal before throwing them at the drone. They both connected and sent it crashing to earth, where Grey grabbed a large piece of concrete and used it to smash the machine into pieces.

He rushed back to the victims of the attack and waited with them in the alleyway. He peered out, watching as Godzilla pushed his opponent back. Godzilla was obviously winning. The creature was badly wounded, bleeding from several gaping wounds, mainly concentrated on it's torso, neck and head. Godzilla delivered several more punishing blows before the creature yelped and backed up. It drove it's claws into the ground and vanished into a cloud of dust. The ground began to rumble but it died down over the course of a few minutes. However, it was far from harmless.

Several buildings began to collapse, including the two that Grey and the helicopter escapees were taking shelter between! Dust rose and Grey covered his mouth as the world turned black.

* * *

"Did we get samples?" Yorburg asked.

"Yes, sir. We retrieved three samples from the burrower, and one from Godzilla."

"Excellent! Have them return here immediately. Also, get some field agents into the wreckage. I want confirmed deaths of those Monarch dogs ASAP. Oh, and check to see if the test subject is still alive."

* * *

Dr. Graham looked at the destruction left in the wake of Godzilla's battle with the new creature. It seemed to have fled back to the whatever tunnel system it entered through. They had people testing seismic activity and reports showed that it seemed to be retreating back to the gorge it had originally emerged from. Godzilla had departed back to the ocean already. Currently, search and rescue teams, some from Monarch and some from other cities, were scouring the wreckage for survivors who hadn't been able to flee the city.

It was quite humbling, to see that their cities could be razed with such ease. For all the pride that humanity took in these cities, they were remarkably fragile. It didn't even take a giant monster, though it certainly helped.

"Dr. Graham, we need you to come with us immediately."

Graham turned to see one of her subordinates motioning for her to follow him. She followed him for a few minutes over the wreckage of the city and what she came across shocked her.

The team they had sent via helicopter were all there, relatively unscathed. They were coated in dust and had a few cuts and bruises, but on the whole, they were pretty okay. However, that wasn't the most surprising thing.

Sitting with them, looking completely exhausted, but otherwise unharmed, was Grey. His hoody was little more than rags and he had blood and dust caking along the side of his face, but whatever wound it had come from had healed a while ago. Honestly, the only notable thing about him currently was how exhausted he looked.

Graham turned to her subordinate.

"How did he get here?"

"Apparently, their helicopter was shot down by someone and Grey pulled them to safety before destroying the drone that attacked them in the first place. Then when the buildings collapsed, he held up the wreckage for them to all crawl to safety."

Graham was astounded. Now it made sense how Grey had been able to fight off this mysterious militia. With strength enough to hold up that much weight, there wasn't much doubt. However, that led to a question of where said strength came from.

"Excuse me, you've been staring at me for a while. Are you going to say something or…" Grey called out to Graham.

"Oh, sorry. It's just rather unbelievable that you were able to do what you did."

"Well, I'm sorry I can't explain it. I don't understand it either. Even if I did, I don't have time. I have to get moving before those nutcases show up again."

Grey started to rise but fell back down, wincing in pain.

"You aren't in any condition to go anywhere. You're exhausted and need medical treatment." Graham stated pointedly.

"Don't have a choice. If I stay, they'll make another attempt to catch me. I've gotta stay ahead of them." Grey responded, but he seemed to be shaky.

"Look, whatever happened to you has been televised to the entire world by now. Rescuing the helicopter crew as well as whatever else you did here will have reached the internet already, so you don't have anywhere to go without being recognized. In addition to that, your body has been exposed to lethal amounts of ionizing radiation. We need to run some tests for your own good. Besides, we might be able to find out what happened to you." Graham argued. Grey considered it for a moment.

"Okay, but on one condition. Keep it low profile. I don't want it getting out where I am."

"Deal."

* * *

"He WHAT?!"

"Hh…he went with them… sir. The test subject is currently within the walls of Monarch's main facility."

Yorburg looked ready to blow more than one fuse. Rothstein motioned for the technician to leave. After that, Yorburg blew his top. He ranted and raved about his research being stolen, how his breakthrough was in jeopardy, and more incoherent and unpleasant nonsense. Rothstein let Yorburg stew for a while before approaching him.

"We still have our other test subjects. The prime four are more resilient to the conditioning, but the special formula I made definitely works. We can move out when you gain approval."

"No, we can't make our move yet. We will patient, wait for them to drop their guard. Then, we will make our move. What of the… larger project?" Yorburg asked.

"It's 63% complete. As soon as we finish it, we can deploy the militia and start the next phase." Rothstein reported.

"Excellent. I want to crush those fools underfoot."

* * *

Grey was in awe of the Monarch facility. It was a marvel of architecture and according to Dr. Graham, it was entirely powered by a nuclear reactor.

Graham gave him the grand tour before the went to the biology lab, where Graham took a blood sample and hooked up a strange machine to him.

"Amazing…" Graham murmured as she looked at the results of the bloodwork while an assistant prepped the machine.

"Care to share, doc?" Grey asked offhandedly, a tinge of nervousness in his voice.

"Your body absorbs ionizing radiation much like Godzilla and other primordial creatures of his era do. It's essential to your survival."

"Well, that explains why I felt like I was having a caffeine rush whenever I had an X-ray done." Grey noted. Meanwhile, the assistant activated the machine and let it run for about five minutes before they removed the probes from his body and looked over the results.

"According to this, your body can actually perform fission on the spare materials you get from eating. It's a very small amount, but with your increased metabolism, you could produce enough to keep yourself healthy for roughly twelve hours from two full meals."

"Huh." Grey muttered. "Anything on WHY I can do this?"

"We're getting there." Graham assured. However, when she saw it, her breath caught.

"Your DNA tests are… I've never seen anything like it!" Graham explained.

"Could you explain it doc?" Grey requested.

"It appears that your DNA was somehow… Spliced with Godzilla's. I don't know how, but several strands of Godzilla's DNA have been slipped in place of other sequences." Graham explained. Grey didn't seem to know how to respond.

"Okay… Of all the things you were going to say, that wasn't one of them."

They filed the information away and arranged Grey's sleeping arrangements. The facility had lodging for employees and several spare rooms, so they set one up for Grey, who immediately fell asleep. A lot of heavy stuff, both literally and figuratively had been dropped on him that day.

The next day, they immediately began running tests on Grey's new need to consume ionizing radiation. He mentioned that he had a sort of mental pull towards where the reactor was kept, leading Graham to hypothesize that the strange pull was towards powerful sources of radiation, not Godzilla specifically as Grey had first assumed. Further tests showed that Grey was actually emitting very low levels of ionizing radiation. Nothing immediately harmful, but something to keep in mind. According to Graham, what data they had showed that the radiation Grey emitted rose and fell dependant on how much he radiation he had accumulated at a given moment.

Graham recognized this as a potential issue, so she sent an order to the R&D department to start working on something that would circumvent this issue. In the meantime, they took him to the basement, where there were several large crates of supplies. They started testing his strength incrementally, moving from one size of box to the next. By the end, he was found to be able to lift a little over 7500 pounds. They suspected that, with proper exercise and training, he could lift much heavier. And that wasn't even taking into account when his… other side emerged.

There wasn't much to do but perform a few more basic tests that they intended to perform regularly, mainly just gamma intake and output as well as possible side effects of the splicing that hadn't surfaced yet. There was actually a surprise turn up by a former prominent figure within Monarch. Dr. Serizawa came in to meet Grey in person after hearing about him from Dr. Graham. They talked for a while and Serizawa did a quick read of their findings. Grey wasn't particularly interested in Monarch, but he recognized that this man was incredibly important to the organization and how much this visit meant. Serizawa explained that he had retired after an expedition into an old cave. He had been spending his life hunting and studying giant monster to the point where he just ran out of energy to continue. Grey listened patiently before they both realized how late it was getting. Serizawa left and Grey returned to his room. One day of testing down.

* * *

"Any words from our partners further south?"

Yorburg looked up to see a scientist wearing a blue pin on his shirt. Yorburg resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Blue pins weren't commonly seen, thus they created a bit of a superiority complex for whom they had been entrusted to. Yorburg was well above such a station but he still scoffed at them, throwing out their chests to show off their shiny blue pins.

"They sent me the results a few hours ago. They have twenty successfully conditioned as well as thirty more to finish conditioning. It seems that that particular strain of DNA is much easier to graft to our own. The higher-ups want to send them to a city as a sort of test." Yorburg replied.

"Should we send any of our own supply?"

"No. We haven't finished conditioning them yet. However, we're close to getting through to two of them." Yorburg waved off. He was getting tired of answering these questions.

"Now then, could you make yourself useful? What are the status of the captures overseas?" Yorburg asked.

"We have seven en-route. There should be thirteen more ready for shipping in a week or so."

"Excellent. I want as many successful procedures as possible. I've created a more… diluted mixture. I suspect we'll have a much higher success rate than our alpha set. Now then, send the order for our partners to send five of their test subjects to us. We'll test them against our own and make use of them accordingly."

 **Yeah, this was a much more fun chapter to write. Hope you all enjoyed.**

 **Sadly, Creativity cannot join us right now. He's currently duct taped to the wall and has his mouth taped as well. He's just coming down from that VR trip.**

 **See ya next week!**


	9. The Mysterious Ticking Noise

**We're approaching ten chapters! I hope everyone is still enjoying the story. I've really worked a long time to get this right and I really feel like it's all finally coming together wonderfully!**

 **Creativity: All the scrapped projects finally got us here!**

 **Author: Indeed. Let us all pour out a mug of hot chocolate in their name.**

…

 **Well, now that we have that out of the way, enjoy chapter 9!**

Grey groaned as he got up. There was a mysterious ticking noise coming from somewhere in his room. It didn't sound like a bomb, but it wasn't a clock of any kind either. He got up and started looking around. Eventually, he came to the above the door to the room, finding what looked like a security camera. However, he could tell it wasn't a camera at all, but rather a Geiger counter that was ticking. He found it strange that it hadn't been ticking when he went to bed the other night.

He walked over to the closed network phone that was built into the wall and called Dr. Graham's number.

"Uh doc? The Geiger counter's going off. Also, when was that installed?" Grey muttered in a sleepy haze.

"We had it installed before you started using the room. We figured it would be a good idea to monitor your body's radiation output when unconscious, perhaps see If your body instinctively retains more radiation when surrounded by others who aren't adapted to absorb it. Based on the fact that the counter is as active as you say it is, I think it's safe to assume you are drawing a portion of the radiation you emit back into yourself subconsciously while awake. Since it requires you to be aware of others around you, this instinct will be inactive when you aren't near any living beings or when you are unconscious." Graham explained. Grey considered the explanation too long, but that could be because he had just woken up.

"Okay then. So, is there anything we should do about this? Maybe seal the place so that I don't irradiate the corridor, or have something to soak up the radiation? And can we get a quieter Geiger counter? It's driving me nuts!" Grey vented.

"We'll handle that. And it was almost time for you to get up anyway."

Grey looked at the clock and realized that Graham was right. He grumbled under his breath as he pulled on a pair of basic jeans and a blue T-shirt. He had gotten some new, if basic clothes when he accepted Monarch's offer of protection in exchange for studying him and his new abilities. Thus far, they had been able to piece together that while he couldn't survive on radiation alone, he did have to maintain a certain level for his own survival. Graham described it as similar to his need to maintain water levels in his body. They had also done a scan of his brain using a strange cap that had many probes and wires attached to it. They examined how various parts of his brain became active under various stimuli, such as a section closer to the bottom of his brain became more active when he was actively drawing in radiation. In addition to this, they discovered that his body was able to repair damage at many times the rate of a normal human, to the point that he could break his arm and have it completely fine in a matter of minutes.

They also did more tests on what his body could do with radiation aside from relying on it for survival. They quickly found that Grey could expend radiation to strengthen his own body to a limit and could exceed that limit by flooding his circulatory system with radiation, which caused his blood vessels to glow blue. However, they also found that this was dangerous. Doing so caused intensive cellular damage, only barely exceeded by his healing factor. Should he suffer an injury while he, as Graham put it, had his blood boiling, it would behave just as any injury he would suffer while he had been an ordinary human. Grey noted that he also felt 'burned out' after the blue glow had receded and also mentioned that it took a lot of concentration to trigger it on the spot, though he suspected he just needed time to practice. Graham suspected that this burn out that Grey experienced would also impede upon his healing factor, leaving whatever damage he sustained during that state to be retained for several more minutes after dropping out of it.

What Grey really wanted answers to though, were proving to be the most elusive yet. He had yet to find out how to cause his arms to turn reptilian. They hadn't been making much progress on that front. The best they could offer was to try and trigger it himself and then practice.

Grey was currently trying to do just that. He was sitting by himself in his room, trying to trigger the transformation. And he was getting very frustrated. He had been staring at his right arm for an hour and a half, visualizing it turning into a reptilian claw, imagining his skin turning to scales, but nothing was working. He was about ready to punch the wall, not caring that it would probably scare the crap out of whoever was unfortunate enough to be walking by when his fist went through the concrete, when his room's phone started ringing.

He picked it up and was greeted by Graham demanding he get to the main lab immediately. Her voice didn't give him a good impression of what was in store. He hurried up to the main lab, where Graham was waiting. She motioned for him to look at a computer screen. On it there was a live video of three people dressed in black bodysuits and helmets, two of which had wings, who were overturning cars, throwing innocent bystanders aside like toys, and just generally destroying the surrounding area. Suddenly, one of them reared back their fist and slammed it into the ground. There was a shimmer in the air before the camera feed cut out.

Graham turned to Grey.

"That ability that was shown before the camera went dead was a one to one match to the creatures that Godzilla destroyed back in 2014."

Grey caught onto what she was implying immediately.

"More Cross-species." He growled.

"Exactly."

"Can the military handle them? Grey asked.

"They've tried. Apparently, they can use each other's EMP blasts to amplify the other's. In addition to this, those bodysuits they're wearing are bulletproof."

"I've gotta get out there." Grey stated before turning to Graham.

"I need a ride."

Graham nodded and radioed ahead.

"They're preparing the helicopter to take you to the city. From there, you're on your own."

"Okay. Anything else I should grab before I go to the city to beat three cross-species senseless?"

Graham smiled a little at his question.

"As a matter of fact…"

Graham walked with Grey to the Heli-pad where there was a technician holding a briefcase. He opened it to reveal a pair of dark chrome gauntlets and a strange headset.

"We designed these to help with containing the radiation you emit, as well as expel excess radiation if needed. They are also shelled against any interference, such as EMP. The headset can read brainwaves, allowing you to operate the gauntlets with mere thought."

Grey slipped the headset on and tore off the majority of his long sleeves off before attaching the gauntlets. He winced as they tightened and small points poked his skin for a moment before retreating. After that, the gauntlets hummed to life! There was a translucent gray strip along the center of the gauntlets that began to light up blue from a little below his elbow to an inch behind his wrist, completely in time with a hum that climbed in pitch until dying down when the bar was full. In addition to this, a piece of the headset on the right side of his head snapped forward, covering his right eye! A small blue border began to glow in a frame around the eyepiece.

From Grey's perspective, there was now a display connected to the gauntlets that showed its charge level, and how much was held in reserve. The reserve section had four images that looked like computer chips. One of them was lit up per gauntlet with a "100%" within. The rest were faded out.

"Okay, this is pretty cool." Grey stated in amazement.

"As much as you may want to try them out, we need to get you to the city, now. Also, there's a button just behind your ear to retract the eyepiece." Graham stated. Grey nodded and climbed into the helicopter, pressing the button while he got strapped in for the flight.

Once they reached a location far enough away from the EMP bubble, Grey disembarked and activated his eyepiece again. He cracked his neck a few times and ignored the nervous feeling in his gut. He took a few jogging steps forward before leaping up onto a lower rooftop. He knew that the other cross-species would have soaked up radiation, just like him. Therefore, he should be able to use his internal radiation compass to find them. He let the instinct kick in and immediately felt a ping forwards. He started running again, leaping up to higher rooftops, hoping to catch them by surprise.

He tracked them for five minutes before he saw them. They were currently closing in on a group of civilians. He snarled and leapt down in front of them, fists clenched. The people yelped in surprise and fear as he slammed into the ground, cracking the pavement. He paid them no mind, instead baring his teeth before grabbing a nearby piece of rubble with one hand and throwing it at the nearest of the mutant moth rejects. It was at this precise moment that all hell broke loose.

The first bug-person leapt over the projectile and charged him, revealing that their hands had become single fingered, sickle-like claws. Grey grunted as he raised his arm in defence and grabbed another piece of rubble. As the claw struck his arm, which was protected by the gauntlet, he swung the piece of rubble around and smashed his attacker in the head, launching them towards the other side of the street!

The other two bug-people charged him, both going for a flank. Grey didn't react in time and was thrown into a wall, where they both flew up to him and began to pummel him with their fists. Apparently, they hadn't mutated as much as their friend. Suddenly, Grey's hand came flying out of the mess and grabbed the second bug-person by the helmet-covered face. He kicked the other one away and swung them around, slamming them against the pavement. He then ripped the helmet free and recoiled in revulsion. Underneath the helmet, the person, now revealed to be a man in roughly his late twenties, had undergone a really twisted mutation. His left eye had been replaced by the strange eyes of the original creature, while his jaw had come out far worse. The right side of his lower jaw had split away from the main structure to form an independent mandible. Grey was snapped out of his shock when he was tackled by the one he had clocked with the piece of rubble. He tucked his feet close to his chest and kicked hard, launching his opponent skyward. Grey then levelled his right gauntlet at the airborne cross-species and to his surprise, two sections on either side of the gauntlet, positioned near the front popped up, unleashing a blast of electric blue flame!

The blast hit the targeted creature in the side, burning away the black material and leaving the creature squealing in pain. Grey did his best not to listen. He turned back to the other two and charged, leaping into the air before unleashing two short bursts from each gauntlet, as opposed to a stream like the last shot. Both of them were stunned by the blast, allowing Grey to finish up the fight with a few well-placed blows to the head. He turned to see the military closing in. He could see the closest group was flying Monarch's colors.

He watched as they placed massive shackles on their arms before locking them in the back of a large vehicle with caterpillar treads. The battle had been relatively contained and not much damage had been done. Plus, the gauntlets worked like a dream! He checked the heads-up display and was a little dismayed to see that that gauntlets were already down to 64 and 72 percent of gamma contained, respectively. He supposed that since this was pretty new tech, there were still some kinks to iron out.

He returned to the chopper, ignoring the gathering crowd before climbing into the helicopter and returning to Monarch.

Yorburg was flipping back and forth between being impressed and being infuriated. The escaped test subject had joined Monarch, stopped three of the more promising subjects from on of their sister labs, and now had technology that let him use thermos-nuclear energy against them! He immediately set their own R&D department to work on replicating and improving on the technology, but that didn't change the fact that they were starting to run out of options. Especially if they found any sort of clues to what was really going on.

"I swear. When we recapture that damned test subject, I am going to dissect him alive!" Yorburg cursed, unaware that Rothstein was listening. He didn't bother to make his presence known. He watched as Yorburg blew a few fuses before heading back to his personal laboratory. He had more work to do.

Grey and Graham were both standing behind a group of people who were busy analysing the suits that the cross-species had been wearing. The suits were made of an unknown, highly flexible and durable material. Upon further examination, they also discovered an apparatus in the back of the suit that looked appeared to be a much less sophisticated version of Grey's new gauntlets. The best comparison Grey could draw was to a one of those backpacks that you filled with water. However, it was worth noting that the apparatus could contain more ionizing radiation than his gauntlets.

Meanwhile, the cross-species had been locked in an extremely reinforced vault until they could prepare more suitable accommodations for them. They were also tricking out Grey's room to account for the Geiger counter going off. The walls had been lined with a special material the reflected Ionizing radiation away, keeping it contained to the room. They also installed a new door that didn't allow any radiation to escape. Finally, they replaced the Geiger counter with a more silent one, wired into a server that would monitor the fluctuations of gamma radiation over night.

Grey wasn't really paying attention to any of that, though. He was currently watching the security monitor of the cross-species he had captured. When they removed their suits and shackled them up, they had revealed that the mutations had not gone so well for them as they had for Grey thus far. In addition to the mutation Grey saw when he ripped off the helmet, the other one had small bleeding stumps on its side that had small single toed claws sticking out. It seemed that the poor person was growing new limps under their skin that were finally breaking through.

Grey couldn't tear his eyes away from the monitor. Was something similar going to happen to him? What about the others who had gone through the same thing? He didn't recognize any of them from the facility he had escaped from, but he doubted he had met all of them. In addition to that, he suspected that only Godzilla's DNA had been used in the facility he'd been experimented on. So, were there more?

He shook his head. He wasn't going to get to the bottom of this now. For now, he just had to focus on getting a handle on his new abilities and capturing any other cross-species that was unleashed on the world.

His musings were interrupted when Graham knocked on the door frame behind him.

"It seems you made the news tonight." She said, seemingly unconcerned by the whole thing.

"Is my name mentioned?" Grey asked as he followed her to the TV she had just come from, about two doors down.

"No, but they did get a better picture than usual. Nothing of your face, but they did see the gauntlets and headset. There's been videos of the fight popping up all over social media. Looks like you're trending a little."

Grey groaned.

"Just what I need. More attention."

He stood up and excused himself. He was starting to feel tired and he wanted to get some extra rest tonight. Considering his luck, there would probably be an attack at midnight. As he shut the door behind him, he went over to the desk and pulled out a journal he had acquired shortly after he came to Monarch. He had been keeping a record of everything that he could remember, stretching all the way back to the first test at the facility. Considering the lunacy he was going through, this was a good way to get it out of his system. He considered writing another letter to his family, but he decided against it. Honestly, the less they knew until this whole mess was cleaned up the better. If he told them that his DNA had been spliced with a radioactive reptile the size of a skyscraper, been forced to do battle with robots, soldiers and other cross-species, and was now living at Monarch, his parents would probably have heart attacks.

He finished up the journal entry for that day, detailing the tests he had done, receiving the gauntlets and headset, and his battle with the three cross-species, he put the journal away, crawled under the covers and fell asleep.

 **I love this story.**

 **Creativity: Me too…**

 **Author: Well, the fight was short, but whatever. I don't like fighting lengthy fight scenes. They can be really boring to write and it feels like the same stuff happening over and over again.**

 **I didn't feel that way when writing New Dawn, but that was probably because I could go nuts thinking of crazy ways for them to attack or defend. Grey's style of combat is pretty… basic right now.**

 **I'll flesh it out a little in the future, don't worry. See ya next week!**


	10. Just a Few Scratches!

**Chapter 10, people! This is a landmark, albeit a small one. Still, LANDMARK!**

 **Creativity: I'm not sure 10 chapters warrants this much hype from you.**

 **Author: Let me enjoy this or this bonus check I have is getting introduced to the paper shredder. Also, side note to guest reviewers. Look, positive or constructive, I really like communicating with people who drop reviews. However, that becomes incredibly difficult when you are, after all, guests. I won't begrudge anyone who doesn't feel like setting up an account, but again, me and, in my experience, many other writers like to communicate with people who like dropping a few words about our stories. And it becomes rather frustrating when you deny us that.**

 **Okay, self-indulgent rant over. Here's chapter 10!**

Grey was standing in front of a very large transparent wall. It was incredibly thick and durable. He had tested it himself and was shocked to find it held strong. That didn't stop him from flinching one of the cross-species he had captured two weeks ago, slammed headlong into the wall, screeching at him as it scrabbled at him with it's foreclaws. It been two weeks since he had dealt with them when they started attacking cities. Since then, Monarch had set up a sort of enclosure for them to try and figure out a way to help them. However, that had proven much more difficult than they had expected. The cross-species were still incredibly aggressive and difficult to subdue. The only one who had any luck was Grey, mainly because every time he went into the setup, he had to fight them, winning every time.

He had noted that they seemed to get less aggressive every time he went in. The scientists hypothesized that this was because he kept beating them, thus they were beginning to realize that picking fights with him just served to waste energy or worse, gain injuries. During one of the earlier times he went in, that particular time to help a researcher who had a malfunctioning stun gun, he ended up fracturing one of the cross-species ribs. That probably served as a lesson to give him a wide berth.

The more recent time, they actually managed to pin him, but he managed to escape by accidentally causing his arm to become his reptile claws. That certainly was a surprise for them as much as it was him. He left the enclosure with a few bruises and the largest of the cross-species had four scratches on it's chest, courtesy of his claws.

Since then, he had been able to transform from his elbow down into it's reptilian form, but it was very uncomfortable. His skin itched and his hand felt like a week-long growth spurt was being compressed into a few minutes.

His mind turned back to the cross-species. They were stalking around their enclosure, snarling at the barrier between him and them. Obviously, they didn't like him. Actually, they had demonstrated a deep dislike for everyone thus far. He didn't know what had been done to them to make them so vicious, or if anything had been done to them at all. For all he knew, he could be on the same path that led to these poor souls.

He shook those thoughts out of his head. He had to get back to Graham. She had claimed that she had developed a way to ensure he had enough radiation to survive, without having to spend the afternoon on the roof, soaking up as much UV rays as he could. He wove his way through the traffic of people, making his way to Graham's lab. When he entered, she was standing over a strange machine with several small spheres, about the size of chick peas, sitting on a circular dish inside a dome. The machine glowed blue for several moments before she turned to see Grey standing there.

"Ah, perfect! Come here, I want to show you something!"

She motioned to the spheres, which hadn't changed since she had activated the machine.

"Since it's much more time consuming to simply have you soak up ionizing radiation from the sun or go all the way down to the reactor and tap it directly from there, I developed a new method of delivery!"

She pressed a button, which caused the dome to lift free. She gingerly lifted up one of the spheres and handed it to Grey. Now that he was handling it, it felt slightly soft, like a jelly bean almost.

"I managed to develop a special, edible gel that can soak up ionizing radiation like you do, using the data we pulled from your bloodwork and absorption tests. Your body produces a special protein in your epidermis that acts like a sponge whenever it is exposed to ionizing radiation. I replicated the protein in this gel, which means that we can create radiation supplements for you and any other cross-species that requires radiation to survive."

He turned to Graham.

"You're positive I can eat this?"

Graham nodded.

"I tested the gel without radiation on several rats and mice a week ago. None of them show any signs of degrading health."

Grey looked at the gel capsule again before tossing it back. Within a few minutes, he felt the effects. He became much more awake and alert, just generally more energetic.

"Woah, that's the stuff! How many should I take?"

Graham pushed them into a special container and put them in a safe.

"I ran the calculations and you should take a maximum of three a day between 7:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. You can take multiple at a time, but maybe don't take three at once. Considering how you acted with that one, it might give you a radiation "crash", for lack of a better term."

Grey accepted the advice and turned to leave. Graham stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

"I'll have a bottle of them ready for you by six tonight. I'd recommend doing some more training until then. How is the transformation going?"

"I have it down, so now I'm trying to do it faster. It's really unpleasant though. Oh, any news on getting any coherent words out of our guests?"

Graham sighed.

"Nothing yet. It's entirely probable that you're the only one who will be able to get through to them."

Grey nodded and left. He went down to the storage area where he helped out some of the workers by moving the larger, more heavier boxes. He kept doing this until six in the evening, when he left to pick up the radiation capsules from Graham and grab some dinner. Tonight's selection was clam chowder.

Grey sat down and enjoyed his meal, ignoring the few people who occasionally stole looks at him. He was used to it by now. After he finished his meal, he went back to his room and wrote in his journal before watching some of the local news. So far, there wasn't anything of note, at least to him. He had made a habit of checking social media and the normal news for anything related to cross-species. So far, nothing.

He had, however, discovered something he found rather interesting. When he looked into stories related to his clashes with the strange militia and the cross-species, he found a website that, at first glance, was a forum for conspiracy theorists. This time however, it was much closer to home. The forum contained a list of people from multiple countries that had begun mysteriously vanishing within a two-month time frame, starting back about a week before he was captured. In fact, he was on the list. It went on to state that someone with super-human abilities had been seen doing battle with armed forces and included videos for good measure. The actual conspiracy was that these people were some sort of invading force who were choosing now to strike and that the government was fighting back against the evil invaders! Grey found the last part mildly insulting, and resolved to clear up the mess when they could announce to the world what was happening.

His mind turned back to the television, but nothing had changed. He turned it off and drifted off to sleep.

It was one in the morning. Grey's eyes opened groggily. He got up and cracked his neck. He looked at the time and grumbled. He stood up and walked over to a water dispenser that was beside his desk. He had requested it since he required a greater intake of water and was occasionally woken up by it. He poured himself a cup and chugged it. He was about to go back to bed when he heard someone walk past his room.

The facility was always active, never shutting down as some experiments and processes had to be done at night, but no one ever passed through the sleeping quarters this late. He waited a few moments before opening his door and peering down the hall. It was dimly lit, but he could see someone heading towards the door on the other side of the hall. That doorway led to a section of the facility he hadn't explored yet, but he had been told led to the server room, where all the data collected on Kaiju, various experiments, and more recently, cross species was stored. He crept out of his room and followed them down the hall way, peering out the door, which had been left ever so slightly ajar. He peeked around the corner and saw them continuing down the hall. It was much more brightly lit and he could see the person clearly. It was a man, dressed in a lab coat with blond hair. Grey slipped out and after him, seeing that the man was heading to the server room. He followed him further before the man made his way inside. Grey followed him in and fought against having his teeth chatter. The room was kept very cold to prevent the servers from overheating and losing all the data. Grey watched as the man approached a specific file. Each one had a digital number assigned to it. Grey had been told that all that data pertaining to cross-species research was under the number 0001472698. Grey squinted at the number and resisted the urge to say anything. The number matched. The man reached into his pocket and withdrew what appeared to be some sort of flash drive while reaching a hand up to his ear.

"This is agent 269. I am under full encryption and have located the file. Preparing to collect data for transfer." The man said in a quiet voice. Grey had heard enough.

He leapt forward and grabbed the man, who had been too preoccupied by his task that he yelped in surprise when Grey seized him by the shoulder and threw him out of the room. He turned and charged back after him, cursing as the man withdrew a pistol with a silencer on it. He leapt into the air, almost touching the ceiling as the man shot twice, both of them going wide. Grey tackled him and slammed his arm down on the man's wrist, snapping it and causing him to drop the gun. He hauled the man to his feet and slammed him against the wall before punching him in the face, knocking him out. Grey dragged him back to his room and called Graham and told her to get security heading to his location. In the meantime, he tied him up with his sheets.

Security arrived swiftly and they immediately dragged him down to the cells and shook him down before throwing him in a set of clothes specifically for those detained by security forces and locked him up. Grey kept a glaring eye on the cell door. He was really looking forward to the interrogation. Finally, they could get something concrete on who was behind this nightmare.

"It seems that agent 269 has been captured sir. His transmission was cut and he hasn't responded to any calls since."

Yorburg pinched his nose, trying to keep from blowing his lid again. These failures just kept piling up! After all their near century of planning, one single anomalous test subject was going to bring everything crashing down?! Why hadn't he just dissected him when he had the chance?!

"Terminate the communications line and inform our other agents within Monarch to withdraw. We'll have to cut our losses on that count."

"Sir, one of the directors sent word to order an assassination on the test subject. Should we abort?"

Yorburg nodded.

"Now the boy will be on guard. Any attempt will end in failure."

Yorburg stood and left, heading back to his own private lab. Once alone, he walked over to an empty beaker and picked it up, examining it. He then bellowed in rage and threw across the lab. He then shoved more beakers, some full and some not onto the ground as well. He kicked over the table and bellowed again before stopping to look at the destruction he had wrought. He looked at his hands before balling them into fists. It was high time he took a more direct hand in cutting away this problem.

He strode out of his lab and marched to the larger lab. He pressed a few buttons on a keypad and three tubes emerged. He connected the tubes to a machine and emptied a quarter from each tube before returning them to their containers. A large grid containing three strands of DNA appeared on the monitor. He began tapping the keys quickly, inputting various lines of code and commands. As he did, the sections of DNA began snapping away from the three original and reconnecting into a single strand. The strands that weren't used vanished from the screen. He began inputting new commands at a feverish pace. A larger machine with a steel barrel began humming. Several lights illuminated and the machine shuddered. Finally, an orange liquid emptied into a transparent tube. Yorburg withdrew it and placed it in a case that emitted a chilled mist when opened. He'd want the best unused test subject he could find for this concoction.

However, he wasn't done yet. He walked over to the slab of mass they used for harvesting Godzilla's DNA. It was starting to… expire, for lack of a better term. It wasn't dying, but soon it wouldn't be usable for experimentation. At least, for what the directors wanted it for. However, Yorburg knew he could put it to a use.

Grey was absolutely livid. They had only gotten a few snippets of information out of the undercover agent before he broke a cyanide molar and died. All they had gotten out of him was that he worked for an organization that was looking to accelerate human evolution and that cross-species genetics was one of only a few ways they were trying to achieve that goal. He also revealed that it was the most successful program they had so far. Beyond that, however, they had nothing. The man killed himself before they could get any more out of him.

Grey had no idea why the man gave up as much as he did. He could have cracked that molar any time he wanted but instead answered a few questions before killing himself. On top of that, four members of staff had vanished. A janitor, a lead scientist, a member of security, and an aide. All evidence pointed to them also having been infiltrators who split as soon as one of their number had been found out.

Grey was currently working that frustration out by using the facility's gym. It didn't offer any equipment that would challenge him, but he did have a large number of punching bags. Several of them were already leaking out sand and he was probably about to break another. He snarled as he delivered one last punch and sent the bag flying across the room into the wall.

"We're going to run of those at this rate."

He turned to see Graham standing behind him. He shrugged and hung another one up.

"Sometimes you just need to hit something. Believe me, I'm actually feeling better than before."

"We ran an analysis on the communications device he was using before you captured him. What we were able to find out is that the device runs through a set of relays before going to the destination. We can't pin down the relays, but at least we know how they're communicating."

Grey nodded as he hit the bag with a few more punches before deciding to call it on busting the budget on exercise equipment.

"Anything else on tracking them down?"

Graham shook her head.

"No. Right now, I believe our only option is to let them come to us."

Grey nodded before walking off to the showers. Once he was done he changed into jeans and a T-shirt before heading down to get his dinner. He ate in his room today before writing in his journal and getting ready for bed when his phone started ringing. He answered it to hear Graham frantically telling him that one of the cross-species was loose! He dropped everything and scrambled out of the room, heading towards the enclosure. He could hear yelling up ahead. He snarled and his arms shifted into reptile mode. He dug his claws into a wall to make a tight turn and saw the escaped cross species ahead. It hissed when it saw him and backed up a bit. He snarled back and charged, claws spread for optimal damage. The cross-species leapt into the air to attack him, but he stopped dead and raised his arms, bringing them down in a hammer blow! The creature was thrown to the ground where Grey promptly smashed his fist into the back of it's head, knocking it out. He picked it up over his shoulder and marched back to the containment room to find that the door was open, but the others were unconscious. Grey could see darts in their sides, but not in any way visible to people peering through the transparent wall. They didn't have security cameras inside since the cross-species always destroyed them. He could also see one dart on the floor. He threw the bug-person back inside walked out, sealing the door behind him.

He marched up to Graham and informed her of what he suspected had happened.

"I think that one of the infiltrators put them to sleep with those dart guns and left the door open just enough for them to escape. We're lucky only one of them woke up and not all three."

Graham agreed with his assessment and they triple checked all the security measures around the enclosure before they went to the observation room. He watched them as they started to wake up and brush the darts off. They seemed to have mellowed out. They still snarled at him, but they weren't aggressively scratching at the barrier of glaring at him constantly.

"There has to be a way to get through to them." Grey muttered as we watched one of them start dozing, probably just sleeping off the rest of the drug's effects.

"I'm not sure you can. You yourself admitted that the process has had a psychological affect on you that you won't ever be rid of, what if this is just the way they are now? As much as I would like to help them, perhaps we just can't get to whoever's inside that body." Graham lamented. Then Grey had an idea. It was an incredibly stupid one, but an idea nonetheless.

"What if I can get through to the bug brain as well? If it's a mix of human and giant bug mind, maybe I can get through to both at the same time…"

Graham shook her head.

"That's an incredibly optimistic, if not foolhardy notion. How would you propose you go about that?"

Grey shook his head.

"I don't know. If there's a chance to get them to stop being so vicious and maybe help them sort themselves out, I have to do it. For myself as much as for them."

 **This was a fun one to write! I hope you all enjoyed!**

 **Also, I have a little surprise coming up after chapter 16. I'll go into more detail later, but I felt like informing you now. Now run along my dear readers! I'll see you next week!**

 **Creativity: Wait! You're forgetting something, aren't you?**

 **Author: What would I be forgetting? We had the bit about guest reviewers, the chapter, the announcement of a surprise, what could we be forgetting?**

 **Creativity: I don't know, I just feel like we're missing something…**

 **Author: Oh right! You have that meeting with the other Creativity's to share ideas and compete in the creativity games, and I have to meet with budget manager in five minutes to discuss the acquisition of an improved idea refinement apparatus.**

 **Creativity: Oh yeah! Wait… I'M LATE!**


	11. A Little More Than a Few

**Well, we're in chapter 11 now. As of this writing, I've been getting overall positive responses, with one that just confuses me. However, that may be due to the fact that I had added something two the first chapter that I wanted at the beginning and posted the update, fixing the mistake before I realized it was there. Funny how things work out like that.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, weird.**

 **Author: Well, let us continue on to chapter 11!**

Grey winced as he felt his skin knitting itself back together. He was wearing a spare shirt, with his old one, as well as a blue hoody, lying on the ground with several large gashes in it. He looked down at the scratches on his arms and torso, which had been bleeding not too long ago. The bleeding had stopped quickly, but he still had to clean it off his skin. That was another problem with the ruined shirt and hoody. Bloodstains.

Thus-far, all his attempts to try and interact with the cross-species had been met with… resistance. Today had been exceptionally bad and he suspected that they would be more skittish the next time he tried going into their enclosure. He had left all three of them with wounds a good deal worse than his own, but not as much blood. He suspected that all three of them had a few fractures and he knew that the largest one had a damaged leg, based on the limp when it retreated away from him.

"If you keep doing this, they're either going to hurt you more grievously and/or kill you, or you're going to be forced to do something similar." Graham reprimanded. Grey groaned in acknowledgement before going to wash up. He didn't want to be walking around with dried blood on his skin all day.

As he dried off and started resting in bed, he kept thinking about how to get through to them. Graham was starting to look more correct by the day. The first time he went in, they all mobbed him and he was forced to knock them all out again before retreating back outside. The second time, they stuck to higher locations and snarled at him, occasionally leaping down to attack him. Finally, he gave up and left. However, that seemed to embolden them for their latest encounter. He doubted that they would be so bold again, now that he reminded them that he could take on all three of them, with or without gauntlets. Still, he couldn't risk the possibility of them escaping and hurting anyone, and that meant either getting through to them, or dealing with them in a more… permanent way.

Grey shook his head, berating himself for even considering the notion. They were victims of illegal human experimentation, like he was. He owed it to whoever was left inside those creatures to try and get their heads back on straight, whatever that meant.

They had tranquilized them after he beat them back to escape, all so they could take some blood samples as well as plug small chips under their skin that allowed them to analyse brain patterns and blood pressure. They hoped that with some better data, they could potentially find a way to appeal to whatever humanity was left in them.

Grey was broken out of his musings when the wall phone rang. He answered it to find Graham's assistant calling him down to her lab. Graham herself was currently trapped in a meeting, which could take upwards of two hours, unless he was brought up. Then it could be more.

Grey strolled down to the aforementioned lab to find a screen with lots of images. Some of them had images of brains, while others were a silhouette of one of the cross-species under what appeared to be thermal vision.

"So, what did you call me down here for?" Grey asked. He was feeling slightly out of it.

"Well, the brainwaves we have could indicate what the problem is with trying to tame them." The assistant replied before she brought up an image of the brain with several graphs that were fluctuating. Grey peered closer, trying to understand what the image meant.

"This scan indicated that the cross-species in question is in a constant state of fight or flight. However, there's also data to suggest that it's also extremely confused and frightened by everything, lashing out at the world in a haze. My guess is that it's a combination of the two."

Grey nodded.

"Makes sense to me, but how exactly does that help me get them to stop treating me like a very aggressive chew-toy?"

The assistant brought up another image.

"This is a scan of the cross-species radiation saturation. Normally, we'd consider these levels to be rather high, especially for you at the beginning. However, compared to you, they're only getting the bare minimum to survive. So, they're most likely looking at you and also seeing a rich source of radiation, so more like a snack than a chew-toy."

Grey seemed to perk up a little.

"So, they might calm down a little if we gave them something to eat? That's something we can try! Anything else?"

The assistant shook her head before opening a different window.

"Not for now. There's still more data being parsed through, but we'll let you know if we find anything more useful."

Grey left the lab and went to the observation room. The cross-species hissed at him when they saw him and sequestered themselves at the back, not taking their eyes off him. He noted that the one with the extra limbs had grown said limbs a little longer since the last time he had checked. They also weren't bleeding anymore, so that was a plus. He noted that the limp on the larger one was gone, though it still seemed to favour its other leg.

He watched them a little while longer before going to pick up his dinner. He ate in his room today, wanting to have a little seclusion after the day's events. He wrote in his journal and decided to visit the lounge. There weren't many people there, but he still had some light conversation with some of Monarch's employees before he decided to call it a night and go to bed.

Sleep was peaceful that night and the next morning, he dropped a request for Graham to make some larger radiation supplements, but keep them the same level of gamma energy that he had. The process took a little longer, but by the next day, he had a good-sized bag filled with irradiated gel capsules. He walked down to the enclosure and took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside. Immediately, the three cross-species shot up to higher ground and started snarling at him. He kept his eye on them as he reached into the bag and produced one of the capsules. It was about the size of a peach and light blue in color. The cross-species stopped snarling, looking confused. He watched as they began clawing at their perches, seemingly unsure of what to do next. They could obviously sense the radiation within the capsule and wanted it, but that meant abandoning the safety of the high ground. He stood there patiently for several minutes as they occasionally leaned forward, looking like they were going to jump down, but hesitating and returning to their perches. After a while, the mid-sized one began to crawl down slowly. This one still had somewhat functioning hands, with it's index and middle finger fused to form the single claw. Once it reached the ground, Grey rolled the capsule towards it, slowly. It stopped three feet short, but the cross-species took a few steps forward and used its hand to pick up the sphere and swallow it. The cross-species seemed to be very elated by this, prompting the other two to make their way to the ground. Grey rolled a capsule over to each of them. They took them and tried them, each seemingly appearing much less aggress afterwards. He rolled out three more, but was dismayed when they began fighting over them. Grey stomped his foot loudly and made a growling noise in his throat, which had felt very sore for a second before he started to growl. The three other cross-species stopped squabbling and backed away. They then each took a capsule and ate it.

Deciding that was enough for today, Grey left the enclosure, a smile on his face. Finally, they were getting somewhere. Graham and several others were waiting to applaud him when he got back.

"That was incredible! I didn't think that would work so fast!" one of them exclaimed.

"How did you stay so calm?! I would have been shaking the teeth out of my skull!" Another said. Grey just rubbed the back of his head a little.

"I guess that the best way to get through to them was through their stomachs." Grey remarked quietly. Then he remembered something.

"When I was stopping them from fighting over the food, my throat felt sore for a second. Any idea why?" He asked. Graham put a hand to her chin.

"I'll review the footage later, see if we can pull anything from it. For now, just enjoy this victory. You've earned it."

All in all, Grey couldn't have asked for it to go better. He only left because he didn't want them to start taking an interest in him because he brought them food. Next time, he was going to go in with something lighter. If they only saw him as someone who supplied food, that could get ugly if he showed up and didn't have any.

He answered a few more questions before going back to his room to write in his journal. He also decided that he wanted to write another letter. He thought long an hard about what he wanted to write. He decided to omit Monarch's name from the letter as well as details about his changes. Eventually, he finished writing and sealed it in an envelope before speaking to Graham about getting it to his family without standard postage.

* * *

Rothstein was standing in an observation room as he watched their latest batch of test subjects, mutated using the DNA of Godzilla's latest opponent, fighting against a ground-based security robot. They were easily strong enough to tear the thing limb from limb and some of them had mutated the ability to turn their hands into shovel-like claws, which were also efficient at slicing the machine into scrap metal. They were also testing a pair from their latest batch against one of the original batch. So far, the one from the original batch, a male with dirty blond hair, was proving to be able to best both of his opponents simultaneously. Hardly surprising, since Godzilla had beaten their donor with relative ease.

Yorburg had apparently been sequestered in his lab for several days, as well as setting aside an old construction bay for on of their larger projects for his own personal use. Rothstein hadn't seen what was inside yet, but Yorburg had ordered a large quantity of machinery for maintaining organisms in suspended animation, as well as gathering as much DNA from the now mutating Godzilla mass they had created in 2014. Rothstein knew that the mass was going to be incinerated within a few days so that they could create a new harvesting mass. The other one was too old and had begun to develop anomalies that complicated research. Either way, Rothstein hadn't an inkling as to why Yorburg would want to gather faulty DNA for a large-scale project.

He shook his head and watched as the Godzilla cross-species pinned both of the other cross-species to the ground, snarling. He could see the reptilian slits in place of normal pupils, a sign that his formula was still in effect. Rothstein prepared to activate the shock collar in case the victor became too zealous, but found that not to be the case. He engaged the knockout gas and let the new handlers take care of the cross-species.

Meanwhile, Yorburg was stood at a large computer console as he did some last checks on his creation. It was growing slowly, but steadily. The dark mass occasionally pulsated, the small tubes attached to it quivering as It did. Yorburg input some final commands before leaving his new private lab. He had to finish the acquisition of some new equipment in preparation for his newest creation. If all went well, this would be his crowning achievement. And there was no way that the escaped test subject could ruin this one as well.

* * *

Grey smiled widely as the cross-species greeted him with a series of clicking noises. By now, they were acclimated to him coming and going from their enclosure, not getting aggressive or defensive when he entered. They still didn't like it when he tried to touch them though. He didn't mind. For now, he was just glad they weren't trying to maul him every other day.

Graham had managed to find an ideal balance in saturation and size for the radiation capsules and he left them each a dish once a week, considering that they could retain radiation better than he could, coupled with the radiation pumps. Today, he was going in to interact with them. Talk to them, see how they responded, maybe see if they would let him touch them. He doubted that last one would happen. Still, he had noticed that they seemed to respond with specific clicking noises to certain words.

Now he just had to figure out what those noises meant. Graham had given him a recording device to hide in his pocket, as well as a very small video camera hidden in a pin that he attached to the front of his shirt.

He placed the dishes of food on the ground and let them enjoy their meal. He sat near the door, letting the recording devices take in everything. After a while, he decided to leave. He went up to the lab and gave them the recording devices, allowing them to start working on deciphering their language. He also was pulled over to a monitor with a video from his first successful encounter with the cross-species.

"Look carefully." Graham zoomed the image in on Grey's neck as she gave her instruction. Looking closer, Grey could see green-grey scales spreading over his throat, just barely visible under the hoody. After he finished growling at them, the scales returned to normal skin.

"So, does that mean I can turn any part of myself into a reptilian version? Because I don't really like where that's heading."

Graham nodded.

"It seems that way. You already mastered having your arms turn into claws. Maybe if you start with your arms and work towards more of your body, it would be easier than starting fresh every time."

Grey groaned.

"Yeah, until I end up like our guests. Seriously, are you not the least bit worried about that happening?"

Graham shook her head.

"Based on the analyses we've performed on both you and the other three, that is an incredibly unlikely outcome. At least, permanently anyway."

"That's reassuring." Grey snarked before walking off to get something to eat. He was amazed by his own metabolism from time to time. He had started thinking about requesting double orders simply due to how fast his body burned through fuel. Burned, was perhaps the operative word there.

He finished eating before cracking his neck and going down to the exercise room for some endurance training.

He worked out for a few hours before he finally had enough and decided to just go surf the web for a while. He frequented more social media, looking into the stories regarding Godzilla or the recent attack by the cross-species that they were keeping. He hadn't been looking too long when he found another site that seemed to be a draw for people wearing tin-foil hats. There were several blurry images (Because of course the damn things couldn't be clear) of what Grey realized to be him leaping over streets to get to the next building. He could also found a shaky video of him fighting the cross-species in the streets. He found it rather strange to be reading these events and know precisely what happened, while the rest of the world was busy trying to figure it out. He knew why no one knew, obviously. He was the one who requested that Monarch keep quiet about his involvement, as well as that of the cross-species until they had more concrete information to work with. Who knows! Maybe sites like this would start flushing out their opponent.

He was interrupted from his musings when he received a call from Graham. She explained that she had another meeting tomorrow and that he would have to be present for it. Already, Grey was groaning and resisting the urge to headbutt the wall. He suspected he would put a hole through it if he tried.

The fact that he would be requested to meet with a selection of higher-ups from Monarch indicated to him that they wanted to decide what to do with him. As to what that might be, he figured he would either be turned into some sort of symbol of the organization, be forced to leave and go on the run again, or they would decide to axe him from the equation all together, which would end terribly for them, and he suspected they knew that. He didn't really dread option number three being chosen, or even being brought up for that matter, but he didn't want to leave yet. Besides, he still needed to help the other three cross-species.

That was another thing. He would be representing them as well, whether Graham had said it or not, and that meant that if he showed any signs of behaviour that they didn't like, they would most likely have the creatures destroyed. Tomorrow was going to be a day of navigating minefields.

* * *

 _Hey everyone, it's me again._

 _I know I said that I probably wouldn't write again, but I found help so I don't have to be constantly running now. These people were also helping out people who are having a similar problem to me._ _Turns out, I've been able to help those people the most. Don't get worried, I didn't join a cult or anything. I promise I'll explain everything when It's safe. Hope everyone's doing okay._

 _Grey_

 **I like these letter chapters. It's kinda fun to write.**

 **Creativity: Uhhh, is there something specific we should be doing right now?**

 **Author: No, that's not until a few weeks later. Seriously, we'd be doing the proper announcement way too early.**

 **Creativity: But wouldn't it build anticipation and hype?**

 **Author: Believe me, you don't want to feed the internet such things. It creates riots in the streets.**

 **See ya next week!**

* * *

 **This was added post completion and submission to the site:**

 **One thing I haven't addressed is Grey being able to fight as well as he does without training of any kind. He has some fighting instincts from Godzilla's DNA that give him an edge when dealing with 'ordinary' people and some cross-species. The rest is just stuff he improvises and finds works. I intend to have him receive a small amount of 'formal' training later, but I thought I'd address it a bit here.**


	12. Board Meetings and Sieges

**Hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday!**

 **Creativity: I didn't know that everyone was getting sundaes today.**

 **Author: Not the dessert you nincompoop, the day!**

 **Creativity: Oh… I knew that…**

 **Author: I can't recall, have you always been this dense?**

 **Here's chapter 12!**

* * *

Grey felt really uncomfortable. The fact that he was just wearing ordinary jeans, blue T-shirt and a grey sweater while everyone else was wearing suits, or in some cases lab coats, was just one of the contributing factors. The main one however, was that the majority of eyes in the room were on him. He wasn't unused to it outside this room. He dealt with it in the cafeteria whenever he went to get food, but it died down in the first week or so. Seeing all these people who could potentially axe his stay at Monarch rather swiftly, staring at him like he was some sort of unusual insect was disconcerting.

He really did feel like an insect, now that he thought of it. Ironic, since he was strong enough to smash them like insects with the table they were meeting at, and he still felt like a tiny bug.

He listened to them talking for a while, despite how hard it was. Most of it was shmultz that he didn't understand, but felt a small surge of adrenaline shoot through him when they specifically called on him to speak. More specifically, to speak about what he knew of who had taken him captive. He gave what little details he could, but that wasn't much. Most of his escape was a just snippets and nightmare fuel flashes, and he only saw a lab for even less time. All his other time was spent in those robot brawling arenas and his solitary confinement box. However, they did present him with several pictures of people who had disappeared around the same time frame of his own abduction. He was able to recognize about seven of them out of a much larger roster, which made him feel slightly ill to the stomach. And that wasn't even counting the number of people who had been abducted since he escaped! The number was reaching close to a hundred!

After that, they questioned Graham on what they currently knew he was capable of, as well as the cross-species in the enclosure. Grey gave his requested two cents on the matter while Graham took care of the science aspect, as well as how Grey's little 'therapy sessions' for them was gradually making them less dangerous to other living creatures. After what felt like an eternity, Grey was allowed to leave. He immediately went back to his room and watched TV for a while to decompress. Things had sounded positive towards the end, but by then he was mentally fatigued from trying to hang onto every word he could. Most of it was nonsense he hoped he would never have to understand, but there were bits and pieces that he remembered. Mainly it pertained to whether or not he and the other cross-species would be able to continue living at Monarch. Grey knew that they wouldn't let him try to take the three with him. They would be killed while he would likely be imprisoned or be set loose. Neither option was incredibly appealing. He suspected that, despite the fact that Monarch appeared to be infiltrator-free, the building was probably still being watched. And if he left for several days, that would have the militia that had hunted him previously nipping at his heels all over again.

He finally got bored of the TV and left to go grab something to eat. To his delight, it was a seafood dish. He really liked seafood. It didn't matter what it was, be it sushi, shrimp kebobs, or old fashioned fish and chips. If it was seafood, he was practically guaranteed to love it. He eagerly devoured the meal before going back to his room to relax a bit more. He had faith that Graham would pull through for all four of them.

* * *

Yorburg was grinning ear to ear as he and several technicians he had brought on for his secret project finished performing a transfer process, moving the pulsating flesh cocoon into a much larger container. It had increased in size dramatically, but had decelerated to a slower, but more consistent rate of growth. Now, it was roughly fifteen feet long and had a girth of five feet. In addition to this, the cocoon itself had developed a purple-black coloration.

"Begin retrofitting the old construction silo in our abandoned seafloor base in Australia, and prepare a submarine to carry this cargo."

The technicians began working without another word. In the meantime, Yorburg began to continue work on his most complicated program yet. Only one of few scientists who were of higher rank than him had succeeded in this endeavour, but he had secretly studied all the successful attempts as well as that failures, compiling a detailed plan of how to proceed. He smirked to himself as he continued coding. He was far more intelligent than the fools who exceeded him in rank. They were from an earlier time, when he had not yet begun his true research. His study of cross-species genetics had carried him far, and the only thing those relics had on him was time. However, that would change swiftly, when he unveiled his latest creation.

Unless he was found out, that is. He was well aware that should he be caught, the directors would destroy his work and demote him, if not outright kill him. But that wouldn't be a problem if he completed his project. This program was simply a backup, should he be caught. A failsafe, for lack of a better term.

He had been working on it for quite some time, but he had only been able to devote so much time to the project. Now, he had to finish it. If he continued to take a direct hand in his secret project, it would be finished in a year's time at most. However, it could take much longer if he could not guide the project with his own hand. Sadly, that was the nature of relying on computers instead of his own mental reflexes and vast intelligence. However, this project would help. At the very least, it would accomplish his goal, regardless of whether or not he was around to take credit for it.

After two hours of coding, he left the private lab and went to see Rothstein, who was overseeing the 'instruction' of their remaining test subjects. They had been weeding out the best of the lot and enhancing those who were deemed too weak. They would need all hands on deck for their final play.

"Is the machine ready?" Yorburg asked as he watched a winged test subject collide with a test subject with long, shovel-like claws. Both had a ferocious gleam in their eyes.

"It's currently going through final diagnostics and weapons tests. Then we can begin planning our opening salvo."

Yorburg grumbled under his breath.

"I wish I had more time to complete my latest project. It would easily break through their defence and leave the only major threat to us completely at our mercy."

Rothstein didn't emote.

"You're developing a bit of a dangerous obsession with that test subject. My advice is to focus on the task at hand. If we are to achieve the next step in human evolution, we need to gain control of the masses. And the best way to do so, is to make a show of power that will keep them in line, but draw them in. The prospect of gaining such power will keep the masses in line. Not just from fear, but of anticipation and desire."

Yorburg waved it off.

"We still have yet to develop as serum that works on those without the gene. As much as I would love to slice that weakness from the gene pool, we'd be left with very few test subjects."

They watched as the winged test subject emerged victorious. He snarled and looked prepared to deliver the final blow, but Rothstein stopped it with a press of a button.

The test subjects were led back to their pens and given their meals before they fell asleep.

Yorburg backtracked back to his smaller lab and rang up his lead technician.

"How goes the preparations?"

"Well sir, we've finished reactivating the air systems in the old base, as well as disabling the connection to the central communication nexus. We've also installed a cloaking system, per your request. They have no idea that the base is once again online."

"And what of the submarine?"

We've almost completed stocking it, and we've moved all the necessary equipment on board. We've also begun work on the retrofitting of the silo, also per your request. The walls have been sanitized and we've begun the process of installing nutrient pumps and hauling in the nutrient fluid you detailed in your report. The analysis cables are currently being installed, and we're finishing up installing the computer network you ordered, per your specs." The technician finished.

"Very good. It's good we have that other base in Antarctica to borrow technicians for the beginning work. Ensure they won't talk and continue working. I want that facility up and running as soon as possible." Yorburg ordered.

* * *

Rothstein shook his head. He had feelers within Yorburg's secret workforce of technicians for that project he had started recently, and he didn't like the sound of it. He had always considered Yorburg to be a little bit touched in the head when it came to a combination of his work and a vendetta, but this seemed to be getting out of hand. However, he wasn't going to interfere. Not yet. He had to keep his mind on the task at hand. The directors had contacted him and informed him that they wanted to begin their march within two weeks. If that was the case, then he had best begin marshalling their forces and preparing to move out soon, Yorburg or no.

* * *

Grey groaned. It had been a week and a half since the meeting and Graham still hadn't told him anything. Likely, she didn't know anything yet herself, but that didn't keep the specter of being kicked out or worse from continuing to hover over him. He was currently sitting in the enclosure with the other cross-species, who were much more welcoming of him now. He had noticed they were starting to use strangely human mannerisms in communicating with him and each-other. Namely, huffs of frustration and the use of hand gestures to indicating meaning. They weren't speaking coherent words, and Grey suspected that they never would. Since their new jaws and tongues were so different from a human's it would be extremely doubtful that they could ever speak human languages again. However, he was able to figure out a few patterns to their speech. Namely, he had been able to decipher food, water, and leave me alone were. Other than that, he was still working on it.

Another big leap he had made was bringing a brave scientist into the enclosure with him. The three cross-species were confused, cautious and defensive in the beginning, but slowly they allowed the new human to approach. However, Grey did warn the scientist that they still didn't allow him to touch them, so they likely wouldn't allow the scientist to try either. All in all, the visit went well. He was confident that meeting people one at a time, with him as a mediator, would continue to rehabilitate them.

He just hoped all that work wasn't in vain.

* * *

(Two days later)

Grey groaned as he was woken up by the phone on the wall ringing incessantly. He looked over at the clock and groaned again. It was 5:27 in the morning. Grumbling under his breath, he rose to his feet and picked up the phone.

"Grey, we need you in the conference room, now!"

Grey winced and held the phone away from his ear until Graham stopped speaking in a panicked tone of voice.

"Doc, it's not even 6:00. What's going on?" Grey mumbled in a sleepy haze.

"Just get here! It's a national emergency!"

Grey's tiredness quickly lessened as he threw on jeans and a sweater before tossing back a pair of his Gamma supplements. He rushed out the door and into the conference room he had been in almost two weeks ago. There were already several people waiting for him, including Doctor Graham. He saw five men and women who were dressed in military fatigues. He also recognized one of the people from the meeting he had been forced to attend. If his memory served, they were in charge of Monarch's public relations division, which was very recent, considering Monarch hadn't existed to the public eye until very recently.

Grey's attention however, was caught by a live broadcast down in San Francisco. The citizens were fleeing from a small army of people wearing some sort of body armor, and wielding weapons that shot blasts vaguely resembling the ones that Grey fired from his gauntlets, albeit less fire-esq and more laser-esq. That wasn't what caught Grey's attention the most, though,

What really caught his attention were a group of at least 50 strong, all with a remarkably different armor. In addition to this, he could see wings of striking resemblance to the three cross-species they had, as well as several others capable of driving their fingers through solid concrete! It was also plainly visible that anything powered by electricity within a certain distance of the group was flickering off. Finally, he could see that the majority were leaping onto buildings and attacking by ripping pieces off and throwing them into the crowds, overturning cars, and occasionally firing off blasts of thermonuclear energy from their arms.

Several people turned to look at Grey, who looked utterly horrified. The screen went dead as the broadcasting helicopter was struck from the sky by several blasts from the militia's rifles. Grey stared at the static for several long moments before slumping into a chair.

"Do we know what they want?" He asked numbly, staring at a spot on the wall.

"According to what little we have been able to gather, they apparently demanded that the country surrender unconditionally to them, or they would take it by force."

Grey shook his head.

"That can't be their end game. Given the show their making, they want this to be talked about globally."

Graham nodded.

"I agree and so does everyone else, but it seems rather bare-bones. Why go through all this trouble to take over the world, if not for a purpose?"

Grey stood up.

"Well, they can't have it. I'm going out there."

However, they were interrupted when someone else rushed in. It was their head of security.

"Armoured vehicles have surrounded the building. They are demanding our immediate surrender, as well as us turning over all cross-species."

All eyes turned to Grey, who now looked very angry.

"Oh, they'll get me alright. Doc, I'm gonna need my gauntlets."

* * *

Graham was hesitant to give Grey his gear, but complied with his request. However, the group in the military fatigues weren't as enthusiastic.

"Going out there without a plan is suicide! Give us time to think of a proper plan of attack!" The apparent leader of the group argued. He and Grey had been rowing about this for upwards of ten minutes.

"What plan can you make?! They have us outnumbered, outgunned, and there's a whole other crisis to deal with! The military isn't exactly going to be rushing to Monarch's aid when San Francisco is on the verge of falling to an unknown terrorist organization who intends to conquer the country and possibly the world! I'm the only one who stands any chance of clearing them out so we can go after the real threat!"

"You aren't any good to anyone dead!"

"If I don't go out there, we're all dead!"

"ENOUGH!" Graham shouted. Both of them jumped at how loud she was.

"We aren't going to get anywhere if you two continue to argue like this! So, both of you get your heads on straight before zero hour!"

The both stood silently, but didn't look any less ready to back down from their opinions on the matter.

"Now then, I agree with Grey that he is our best option for getting out of this mess and heading off to combat this problem. However, I also agree that it is foolish of you to just leap out the door, gauntlets blazing. Do you have any plan at all?"

Grey huffed.

"Look, as much as I would love to have a plan right now, we don't have one and I seriously doubt I'll get one soon. I'm playing on the chance they still want me alive. It's entirely possible they don't anymore, but they have in the past. Look, do you honestly think any of the weapons we have here are going to work on them?"

Graham looked uncertain.

"I believe it's possible. If it wasn't, why would they still be waiting outside? Why not just come charging in if they're invincible? I mean, you may have an advantage inside, but if they outnumber you like this and have vastly superior firepower, why are they waiting? The fact that they gave us an ultimatum means that they think it's better to smoke you out rather than come after you inside."

Grey started to smirk.

"They're scared."

The leader held up a finger.

"I've got an idea. It's a simple one, but it's risky. They obviously went out of their way to come after you, keep you away from the fight in San Francisco. You walking out if going to get their attention. They don't have helicopters, do they?"

"No." Graham answered. "We received a report that there are drones in the area, but they're all watching the entrance."

"Good. Me and my team will go to the roof and open fire on the drones as a signal. Then you start blasting."

Grey nodded.

"Let's get to work."

* * *

Grey snapped his gauntlets into place and slipped on the headset, leaving the eyepiece in standby.

"Oh, I don't think I caught your name." Grey mentioned as he gave the gauntlets a once over.

"The name's Ford Brody." The leader answered as he and his team began collecting their weapons and other gear from the armory. The name seemed familiar to Grey. Then it struck him.

"You're the hero from the original Godzilla incident!"

Ford didn't look up from his rifle, which he was giving a once over.

"The real heroes are the one's who carried the bomb all the way to the docks. I just finished what they started."

Grey couldn't believe he was standing in the presence of one of the worlds most important figures in recent history. Now it made much more sense why he was one of those present in the room. He probably had a lot of connections within Monarch.

"After the incident in 2014, I joined up with Monarch's new Investigation Security division. We helped escort the people doing investigations in more… hazardous environments. I did that for 8 years before transferring to Monarch's Crisis Response Unit." Ford said, seemingly having read Grey's mind. Grey assumed that the other people in military fatigues were also part of the same unit as Ford. He didn't bother to ask, as he charged up the gauntlets, before dissipating the charge. He turned to the others, who were in full kit.

"Let's crush 'em." Grey said, a dangerous glint in his eye.

 **Yes, Ford's shown up! A surprising number of people were wondering if/when he'd show up, so I decided to throw those people a bone. However, don't expect to see more of him.**

 **Also, we don't get a definitive age for him, so I'm assuming he's in his mid to late forties at this point in time.**

 **That being said, since it's twenty years into the future in this story, there is a one character from the movie that I will be including more of. You take a guess who it is.**

 **See ya next week!**


	13. Metal Monsters and bloody brawls

**And now for something completely different.**

…

 **Cookies for anyone who knows that reference. Why do something completely different if everything's working great?!**

 **Creativity: You just wanted to do that gag didn't you.**

 **Author: Well, the story may be taken on an ever so slightly different tone, so I guess it's best said that I'm exaggerating more than anything else.**

 **Hope you enjoy chapter 13!**

* * *

Grey swallowed, somewhat nervous as he approached the glass doors that separated him from the siege forces outside, waiting for him. He made sure that his headset was deactivated and that his gauntlets were concealed beneath his sweater. Since they weren't too bulky, they could be hidden with relative ease. He just hoped that Ford and his team did their job so he could do his.

As he spoke, Ford and his team were just making their way to one of the floors, when they stopped. They could hear footsteps, ever so faintly. They quickly hid themselves while priming themselves to open fire. Three people dressed in dark armor that seemed to be constantly shifting in color, ever so slightly. It almost seemed fuzzy. The team darted forward and seized them from behind, knocking them out swiftly and silently. They then proceeded to extract what appeared to be comms devices and mini cameras before destroying them. Ford pulled out a walkie talkie from his pocket.

"Graham, we have soldiers in the building! Repeat, we have soldiers in the building!" Ford hissed.

"We can't abandon the plan! I'll deploy security for a sweep, you keep to the plan!" Graham responded.

Ford and his teamed kept towards the roof, much more alert now. In the meantime, Graham was doing as she said she would, deploying their security forces to sweep the building. However, she was very nervous about it all. Especially since the soldiers were likely to be far superior in training as well as equipment. Still, they couldn't let this strange militia run wild and unchallenged in their own facility! Then she remembered that they had demanded that the three cross-species they had captive were also demanded. That had to be what they were after! She called for two security guards to accompany her and they began making their way to the creature's enclosure.

Thankfully, it showed no signs of tampering. That didn't mean they were out of the woods yet, though. Graham and the security guards took up position on guarding them. They all hoped that the intruders didn't get this far.

* * *

Grey shielded his eyes as he stood on the concrete steps that led up to the building. The light was from a drone that was hovering overhead. From what he could see from under his arm, there were vehicles of varying size, all armored, forming a semicircle, boxing him in. He resisted the urge to prime his gauntlets and blast the drone out of the sky. That light was really starting to annoy him. Instead, he waited for someone to make a move. He had to play for time until Ford and his team gave him the signal by lighting up the annoying bugs that had their guns trained on him.

Annoying bugs? Where had that come from?

Shaking his head, he noted that there were soldiers wearing something reminiscent of that bulky armor that had given him trouble. It looked even bigger than before, to the point where the heads emerging from the armor, even with helmets on, were noticeably disproportional to the rest of the armor. It also looked to have electrocuted knuckles as a new feature, so that was something. He didn't think he'd be looking forward to finding out what the rest of the rest of the features were. He could also see those stun guns from before, and what appeared to be some sort of teched out rocket launcher. This wasn't going to be fun.

" _If it ever starts"_ Grey thought to himself. _"Come on, Ford. Kinda getting nervous here!"_

As if on cue, gunfire erupted from the roof causing the rocket launcher and several other soldiers who had explosive weaponry to drop. Grey immediately leapt into the air as the eyepiece snapped into place! He ripped the sleeves off the gauntlets, while briefly lamenting the loss of another sweater, before unleashing twin beams of thermonuclear energy from his gauntlets! Several of the vehicles exploded, while others were overturned as Grey landed, charging into the thick of it, throwing punches and literally throwing the opposition out of his way. He had already cleared out a large swath of them when Ford and his team changed targets, focusing down on the bulk of the militia. And he could see why. The armored soldiers strode through the gunfire as it pinged off their armor without so much as a scratch. Seriously, not even the paint was damaged!

Grey grumbled and rolled his neck before charging the nearest one, grabbing it by the middle and pushing it back. He smirked when the person inside yelped in surprise. Capitalizing on the opening, he heaved them up into the air above his head before throwing them into another armor wearer. He turned and blocked a punch from another armor wearer, only to be thrown back several meters, into the hood of one of the cars. He groaned as he picked himself up, only to find that his opponent was closing fast. He snarled and leapt behind the car, so that it was between him and his opponent. He then braced his palms against it and gave it a powerful shove, sending it flying into the armored person. He charged forward as his opponent pushed the car off themselves, only to find Grey assisting in that for a moment, before realizing that Grey was actually dragging it in a circle to smash him like a baseball!

The second flight was much more vertical, and they ended up crashing into the fountain outside. Grey turned to the final one, who had their fists held up like a proper fighter. Grey cracked his knuckles and stalked forward. The armored soldier was the first to throw a punch, which Grey managed to narrowly avoid before returning fire. He added to the power of his punch by unleashing a blast of thermonuclear energy, point blank! However, this person seemed to have prepared. Grey realized that they had used some sort of anchors on their boots to prevent him from throwing them off balance. He smirked as he dodged out of the way of another swing and retreated, unleashing a torrent of energy from his gauntlets. He was going to cook them like a turtle in a shell. Unfortunately, the anchors were swiftly detached and the soldier began marching through the continuous blast with ease! Grey could see that the chest plate was glowing with heat, ever so slightly, but not nearly as much as it should have! He stepped back cautiously, but the soldier grabbed the hood of a nearby car and threw it at him, causing him to leap aside to avoid it. The soldier pounced, pinning Grey to the hood of another car! He felt his arms pinned to either side of his head and watched a two metal spikes were driven into the hood on either side of his wrists. He could feel metal cords touching his wrists. The soldier backed off the hood, revealing that Grey was secured to the hood by his arms and couldn't pull free! The soldier raised an arm, causing a compartment to open and a mini-missile to rise up!

"Oh, come on! That's just excessive!" Grey shouted as he struggled against his bindings. Unfortunately, it seemed that his bindings went all the way to the bottom of the car, rather than just the hood as he had initially guessed. He saw the missile begin to sputter to life and true fear for his life crept into his veins.

* * *

Graham and the two guards kept jumping at every noise, feeling their blood start pumping erratically at ever shadow that seemed to move on the walls. It certainly wasn't helped by the cross species, who knew that something was going on outside and were starting to get increasingly stressed. They were clawing at the window and door, snarling and screeching. At one point, they started headbutting and biting at the door. Graham felt sympathetic, but they were much safer in there. She had no doubt that the intruders would have some sort of method for subduing the cross-species.

Suddenly, she felt her heart jump into her throat as she saw a conical light flash through the dim room. She and the guards both ducked for cover and peaked around to see a group of three soldiers, all armed with assault rifles and dressed head to toe in dark armor and masks obscuring their faces. They waited as they approached the door to the enclosure before rising from behind cover and opening fire. However, the vast amount of pinging noises told them that the soldier's armor was tougher than they had anticipated. They ducked back behind cover as several bolts of energy flew overhead, leaving scorch marks on the walls. Graham felt her heart jump again when she heard the familiar sound of the door hissing open, followed by the loud shrieking of the cross-species. However, what she didn't anticipate was the soldier's terrified shouts and the haunting noises that followed. Daring to sneak a look, Graham was aghast. The Cross-species were free, and they had quite literally torn the soldiers limb from limb. They were now shrieking and clicking as they swung their heads around.

Graham felt her heart start beating a mile a minute when they all charged in her general direction. She braced for the end, but only felt the wind rush past her. She looked up to see the foot of the last one, disappearing behind a corner. Graham released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding before stumbling back against a wall. This was too much excitement for a scientist.

* * *

Grey braced for the rocket to nail him in the chest. The soldier in the armor smirked before raising it a little higher, aiming for Grey's head. However, they were both distracted by a loud shrieking noise. Suddenly, a large blur smashed into the soldier, throwing them away from Grey! Grey looked to see the largest of the cross-species they had captured, wing's flaring as it violently wrestled the soldier! Meanwhile, the other two cross-species had rushed over to him and were trying desperately to remove his bindings. After several moments, they pulled one of the cuffs loose, allowing Grey to reach over and tear his other arm free. When he looked over, the largest one had been thrown clear of the soldier, and then slammed a glowing arm into the ground, causing a ripple through the air! The armor sputtered, but didn't fully shut down from the EMP. However, it did affect the missile, which promptly detonated and rendered the soldier unconscious, as well as relieving him of his arm, and possibly a part of his face. It was hard to tell with the blackened, twisted metal. Grey looked at the cross-species, who were clicking and snarling incessantly. He turned to see that the rest of the soldiers had been demolished by both Ford's team and the cross-species, based on the bullet wounds and the large gashes made by the cross-species single toed claws.

He pressed a finger to the back of his ear, covered by his headset.

"We're clear out here, and I got the bugs with me. Ford? You see anything?"

" _We're clear up here."_ Ford responded over comms.

" _It appears the cross-species took care of the intruders as well."_ Graham added from inside.

"Alright. Where's the major attack at now?"

Grey took another look at the three cross-species, who were calming down now, but were still flaring their wings and snarling at anything that moved. It was still incredible that they had come out here to help him. He would have thought they were coming out here just to fight people who were threatening them, but the way those two broke him free while the larger one fended off the armored soldier indicated they went out of their way to protect him. And the fact they were able to deduce a way to break him free of those shackles indicated that they were much smarter than his previous interactions with them had let on.

" _The bulk of enemy forces, including their cross-species, are currently making their way towards Washington. No surprise there, but much of their force is still in San Francisco. We have chopper being readied."_ Graham suddenly responded, jolting Grey back to reality.

"Alright. Let's give 'em a taste of their own medicine." Grey growled as he made his way back inside. His eyes were flickering from their usual green to their reptilian form, but that didn't last long. After he made it to the first flight of stairs, he realized that the cross-species were following him. He smirked a little.

"You guys want your pound of flesh? Well, who am I to stop you?"

They chirped and clicked at his response, but he didn't recognize it as their usual affirmative. They were probably just responding to the noise. By the time he made it to the Heli-pad, the copter was ready, with Ford and his team already aboard. They had thrown on more standard military gear and were armed with scavenged rifles from the massacre downstairs. Grey climbed aboard and strapped in as the copter ascended and began heading to Washington. He could see the cross-species taking flight behind them, pulling up alongside the helicopter.

"I'm not sure how to feel about them." Ford commented as he watched the smaller one pull slightly ahead. Grey turned to him.

"How do you mean?" He asked. Ford didn't break his gaze from the cross-species.

"I saw what the big ones did. Hell, I was there! It's just… weird, seeing a human spliced with those things."

Grey turned his head to look at the cross-species as well.

"I get that. I wasn't even alive when the San Francisco crisis went down, so I can't comment on that part. Still, imagine how weird it is to be living as one of those spliced. Sometimes I wish I could see what's going on inside their heads, see how human they're actually thinking and how they feel about our situation."

The conversation died there, so Grey spent the rest of the trip getting to know Ford's team a little more. Aside from Ford, there was Nancy, who aside from former service in the military was also an accomplished electrical engineer. She started working for Monarch a year after Ford joined. There was also Jordan and Thomas, who were brothers and both served in the Canadian Armed Forces before joining Monarch. Apparently, they joined because they had family in San Francisco during the crisis. Their family made it through just fine, but the incident had inspired them to help those who weren't as fortunate by joining Monarch. Finally, there was Johnson. He was quiet, but still a really engaging person to talk to. He had been part of the Navy when the San Francisco incident occurred, and was on one of the ships trying to block Godzilla from entering San Francisco. After the incident, he joined Monarch with Ford. The two of them had been working together since day one of joining Monarch.

Suddenly, the largest cross-species let out a loud series of clicks. Grey looked out to see that they were approaching a burning San Francisco. The smell of smoke assaulted his nostrils. He could hear shouting, screaming, gunshots from ordinary firearms and the enemy militia's fancy guns. He primed his gauntlets as the helicopter began to descend, but suddenly swerved. Grey saw why. A blast of blue energy hurtled past the helicopter, causing Ford to swear. Grey snarled as he looked down towards the ground. He cursed as well as he unbuckled and leapt out of the helicopter! He had jumped from higher before. He transformed his arms into their reptile form and dug into a building as he passed, slowing himself down dramatically. He leapt clear of the building and hit the pavement. He snarled as he saw a group of soldiers round the corner. He grabbed a nearby car, the metal bending under his grip as he threw it at the squad!

" _Are you insane?!"_ Ford's voice yelled through the comms. Grey winced at the volume before pressing a finger to his ear.

"Just get to the ground! I'll get their attention!"

Grey sprinted forward an leapt into the air. He saw a nearby tank that was armed with a very teched out cannon. Definitely not friendly. He landed and jumped again, rearing back his fist as the gauntlet began to hum with increasing pitch. As he landed on the tank, he launched his fist forward, unleashing the thermonuclear blast point blank! The blow rendered the main cannon useless while Grey tore the top off and leapt inside. What was heard next could only be described as fireworks being set off in a tin can. The tank rocked and shook while screams of terror were heard from inside. Two soldiers flew out of the opening on top before a third was punched clean through the metal body of the tank!

Grey leapt out and tore two massive pieces of metal from the tank and threw them at another group of soldiers, who didn't time to express their shock before they were flattened against the wall. Grey turned and ducked behind the tank as another one fired a blast at him! He snarled before walking forward a few steps, then turning and running before leaping clean over it and onto the second tank. He peeled that one open like tin of sardines before introducing the crew to asphalt.

Grey turned to see a larger squad approaching him. He bared his teeth and growled in the back of his throat. He could feel the discomfort that came with changing into reptile mode. Suddenly, the cross-species plummeted out of the sky and utterly demolished the squad! Following that, a hail of blaster fire came from his side, taking down another squad. Grey turned to see Ford and his team, all with their weapons smoking.

They heard a whirring sound over head and saw a group of drones diving at them. The team unloaded blast after blast while Grey fired both of his gauntlets, cutting the flock of drones out of the sky. Grey turned and nodded, but then he felt a pull, similar to when Godzilla had surfaced before. It was very different, however. He turned his head before narrowing his eyes and growling. He could see a group of twelve cross-species. They were of all three mixes, but every single one of them looked almost manic. Grey slowly stalked forward, followed by the three cross-species he had brought. They were making low growling noises and slow clicks as they approached along side him. The other cross-species had noticed them by now and were starting to approach as well, hissing and snarling at them. Grey broke into a run as his teammates took to the sky, where they would be met by others of the same mutation. Grey's gauntlets began humming as he got closer. He leapt into the air with a ferocious battle cry before unleashing twin beams from his gauntlets! His foes scattered in surprise before two of their number answered with blasts from their own gauntlets! By now, he had already hit the ground and delivered a punch to the head of a Godzilla cross-species before rounding on a burrowing cross-species to deliver an uppercut that threw him into the air and onto a nearby building. He felt two bug-cross-species tackle him to the ground, based on their wings buffeting him. He proceeded to hit them both in the face with either fist before grabbing their heads and crashing them together! He stood up and yelled in pain as he felt claws dig into his back! He turned to see a burrowing cross-species, with fresh blood on her claws. He snarled as he felt the wounds knitting themselves back together. When she swiped at him again, he dodged back and blasted her with hit gauntlets, creating an opening for him to slam his fists into either side of her head, knocking her out instantly. He looked to see that most of the squad had been dealt with when he looked to see that his teammates were all each about to kill their opponents!

"No!" he yelled at them, causing them to pause before leaving their defeated opponents and joining him. He leapt onto another building and saw the bulk of the enemy cross-species' were missing. They were probably part of the force going on to Washington. He was probably fighting the weaker ones, since the stronger ones would be better for conquering. He opened a line to Graham as he kept an eye on the defeated cross-species.

"Graham, I've knocked out most of cross-species in San Francisco, but I don't have any way of restraining them. Can you get those containment pods ready?"

" _I'll have the start preparing immediately. In the meantime, try scavenging the militia's gear for something to restrain them with."_

Grey signed off and told the cross-species to guard the unconscious ones. He was heartened when they took post on three different buildings to keep an eye on things. They really were more intelligent and understanding than one might think at first glance.

Grey started looking through the fallen militia's gear, looking for anything that might be useful. In the end, he didn't find any sort of restraints, but he did find a tranquilizer gun that featured multiple settings of potency. It was probably for if the cross-species got too zealous. He went around and popped each one with two high potency darts, easily enough to put them out for many hours, especially since they were already unconscious. Grey then proceeded to deal with the remaining enemy cross-species before darting them and piling them up with the rest. He cracked his neck before informing Graham and Ford that there would be no more interference via EMP from the bug cross-species. Ford and his team were currently taking out squads of the militia with ease, while a faction of the military moved in to help them clean up. However, everything came to a halt when they heard what sounded like the ocean spitting up meteor. Grey looked out towards the bridge and felt his heart drop to his feet. Godzilla was in the bay. But something was wrong.

Godzilla looked around, before settling his sights on the nearby military forces. Grey watched in horror as Godzilla unleashed his atomic breath on the military. Why was he singling them out?! They were the furthest away from him! This all felt wrong!

Then it hit him. It felt wrong. He couldn't feel the gravitational pull that Godzilla seemed to generate for Grey! He was about to share this information with Ford and Graham, but they started shouting before he could. After the shouting died down, he told them of the strange pull that Godzilla's presence created for him, and how it wasn't present in the slightest.

Ford didn't seem to care. He just knew that whatever this was, it was aiding the enemy. Grey agreed on that note, and started to advance on some soldiers, only for Godzilla to suddenly switch his focus. Grey felt as if he were under surveillance cameras. He could see Godzilla's beady yellow eyes glaring at him. He swore loudly as Godzilla unleashed another round of atomic breath, which Grey narrowly outpaced! He kept moving, cursing further as Godzilla continued to follow him with that blue beam of pain and death. He ducked out of sight and began to close the distance, hoping that Godzilla would have a more difficult time hitting him when he was closer. However, as he got close enough, Godzilla began to have blue energy lance across his body before it exploded outwards, launching Grey like a golf ball! On the plus side, he was able to absorb a lot of gamma radiation from that pulse. Grey groaned as he pulled himself out of the rubble of his landing. He stood up and yelped as the atomic breath was unleashed again, forcing him to leap clear once more!

However, it was at this moment when Grey noticed something. A tiny tug at the back of his mind. It was growing stronger, and fast. Grey's face split into a wide grin as the pull became even more pronounced. He could see a triple row of spikes knifing through the water towards the city. The Godzilla that was currently attacking, seemed to sense it too, as it turned just in time to see a second Godzilla rising from the ocean with an enraged bellow! Without wasting time, this new Godzilla began charging at the second, who did a very something very unlike Godzilla. It backpedalled, charging up it's atomic breath. Godzilla never retreated. As the blast was unleashed, the new Godzilla plowed through it with no difficulty before slamming into the first one, full force! Suddenly, Godzilla's visage began to flicker and become blurred. The second Godzilla slammed a claw into the blurred image, which finished the job. The flickering stopped and revealed a colossal machine, constructed in the likeness of Godzilla! Grey couldn't believe his eyes! It's arms were much skinnier that the real Godzilla's, appearing very skeletal. It was much boxier, and had glowing red eyes. In addition to this, it's shoulders began to click and change, twin cannons rising from them. No more need to seem realistic.

Grey watched as Godzilla roared at his metal impersonator, who just prepared to fire it's shoulder guns. Godzilla charged again, and his foe answered. The two titans clashed together, determined to tear the other apart.

 **That's right! Mecha-Godzilla! Who saw that coming! Well, before I had Godzilla allying himself with the obvious bad guys and the hints involving Grey's strange connection to him? Whatever! It's going to be freaking awesome! I wonder if Legendary will ever do Mecha-Godzilla, and if so, how would they do it?**

 **Creativity: I'd think that the construction silos would be an adequate enough hint.**

 **Author: perhaps. Maybe we'll get feedback regarding that.**

 **Also, I just want to say that I'm considering taking a month off from updating after Halloween. I won't be taking a break from writing, but I just want to build up my backlog a little. Besides, midterms will be starting by then so I'll have to put writing on the backburner for a bit. It's difficult to find time and motivation that coincide as it is.**

 **It's not set in stone, but I'm considering it. Just thought I'd give a little heads up.**

 **See ya next week!**


	14. The King Reigns Supreme

**Welcome back everyone! So, we're not doing a half-baked comedy bit today. Instead we're just going to surge ahead with the chapter and wrap up this first arc.**

 **Also, I didn't clarify it last time, but Mecha-Godzilla uses a device that creates the image of Godzilla around it, as opposed to having a covering that looks like Godzilla. I think everyone figured that out, but I have a feeling that I would have had a few people pestering me about it, so I decided to mention it here.**

 **Enjoy chapter 14!**

Ford thought he had seen it all back in 2014. He'd witnessed three monsters, each taller than skyscrapers, brawling across San Francisco, decimating the city. In that time, he had blown up a monster's nest, hauled his battered carcass across the city to the pier, gotten on a boat with a primed nuclear bomb, and piloted that boat out of San Francisco before watching Godzilla burn the final monster's head off it's neck, then been lifted away from the aforementioned boat via helicopter.

None of that even came close to what he was watching now. He and his team were bearing witness to Godzilla fighting a mechanical replica of himself, which had been constructed by a secret organization who was hell-bent on world domination, and also found a way to splice animal DNA into humans and did so with Godzilla, the bugs from 2014, and the burrowing monster Godzilla fought a few months ago. And the invasion had only started a few hours ago.

If this wasn't on the news, no one would believe him.

He turned to see Grey, similarly awed by the spectacle. A loud crash drew his attention back to the fight, as the metal behemoth revealed that it's skinny arms featured powerful nuclear cannons. The cannons were currently focused on Godzilla, unleashing explosive blasts that pushed the king of monsters back, who roared in frustration. There were several scorch marks across Godzilla's front, but he didn't seem to be truly injured, yet. He pushed forward, claws outstretched as he seized the machine by it's shoulders and bit into it's neck. Unfortunately, the metal plating was seemingly protected by some sort of energy field, based on how a sort of barrier appeared between Godzilla's jaws and the metal he sought to scrap. However, the scoring along where Godzilla had attacked before indicated that the shield didn't protect everywhere.

It made some sense to Ford. The joints were likely less armored, allowing for a wider range and ease of motion that bulky armor would slow and restrict. The neck was also probably critical, as the head likely housed the controls for the machine, whether it was being directly or remotely piloted.

Godzilla roared in frustration as he failed yet again to go for an attack on the neck. However, his impersonator decided to show off its own bite. The teeth inside were conical and had appeared to have small saw blades coming out of the sides. The machine lunged forward and sank it's jaws into Godzilla's shoulder. Godzilla let out a cry of surprise and pain as the teeth began to spin like drills! Godzilla slammed his other claw into it's side repeatedly, creating a breach in the metal that he dug into, tearing a massive wound in the armor! The creature immediately retreated, revealing Godzilla's shoulder to be bloodied, but still functional. Godzilla raised the wounded arm and delivered a terrific blow to his opponent's head, throwing the mechanical monster off balance. Godzilla followed this up with a headbutt before slashing with his claws again.

Ford however, was not focused on the struggle further up. He saw that the jagged gap that Godzilla had torn in the side of the machine now had an energy barrier covering the breach, comparable to a scab on a cut. That wasn't encouraging for Godzilla's chances of victory.

" _As jaw-dropping as this spectacle is, I think it would be more prudent to go after the faction that is making its way to Washington. What are you still standing there for?!"_ Graham shouted into their earpieces. Ford winced, then motioned for his team to start heading towards a helicopter that was touching down for them. He looked to see that Grey had made his way over to them and leapt aboard as the heli took off. As it went, they could see Godzilla and the machine were now grappling with each other, grasping the other's shoulders and trying to throw the other off balance.

Soon enough however, the heli was turned too far towards the detachment to see the two titans brawling. They could still hear it, though. It sounded like Godzilla was being forced to give ground.

* * *

Shaking his head, Grey looked at the detachment and noticed that there were less cross-species than he had thought. He put their numbers in the twenties, maybe. He did note however, that they all seemed relatively free of some of the 'deformities' that the other cross-species had. Their claws weren't as heavily pronounced, they didn't have any extra limbs (Aside from wings) and they didn't have any patches of skin that looked to be of another animal. These ones had probably turned out as "Successful" to the organization that had transformed them.

Grey shook his head again. He couldn't be distracted by that now. What mattered in the moment was that they were a part of an enemy force and he had to deal with them. Since the remainder of the detachment was composed of a couple of tanks and two squads of soldiers, Grey would probably be stuck dealing with the cross-species, while Ford and his team handled the rest of the militia. Grey cracked his neck and primed his gauntlets, glad that he had been able to absorb some residual radiation from the Godzilla robot's attack. He also sensed radiation inside the guns that Ford and his team had scavenged, leading him to believe that he could rip his foes' weapons apart for some extra energy, should the need arise. The gauntlets still had a good amount of charge left, so he wouldn't have to tap into his body's reserves unless the fight really dragged out.

The helicopter dipped lower, but the clanking of the tanks turning their main guns was an indicator that they needed to move fast! Grey leapt from the helicopter and landed on all fours before charging the detachment! The soldiers raised their guns to fire, but were immediately bombarded from the helicopter as it got lower to the ground, forcing them to retreat as their numbers were cut dramatically! Grey's vision focused on the cross-species, who were wearing different suits than the ones back in San Francisco. Instead, theirs were full body and appeared to have different accommodations based on what giant monster had been spliced into their DNA.

For the Godzilla cross-species, they had more advanced gauntlets, as well as some sort of metal plating on the front of their torsos as well as their shins. The giant bug cross-species had suits designed aid with flight, as well as glowing lines on their arms that glowed even brighter when they used their EMP ability. Grey suspected that it was an amplifier for that ability.

Finally, the burrowing cross-species had gloves that made their shovel-like claws even more efficient for digging, as well as fighting. They also seemed more heavily armored.

Grey met the first one in a collision with his shoulder. It was a burrowing cross-species. He slammed his fist into their gut before grabbing them by the shoulders and throwing them into the air, intercepting a cross-species that had taken to the air. He then turned to throw a punch at another one, only to be tackled to the ground by a Godzilla cross-species and a burrowing cross-species. Others began piling on and he felt blows striking him all over his body, strong enough to give him proper damage! He felt his skin start to burn before his body pulsed blue and the dogpile was thrown off him. He stood up, feeling his skin burning and itching before it stopped almost immediately. He immediately tackled the nearest cross-species and delivered a hammer blow to it's forehead, knocking it unconscious. Around him, he could hear the rest of the soldiers falling and a tank blowing up. Ford's team seemed to be experiencing much success.

He turned to see two more charging him, both burrowers. He snarled as he charged to meet them.

* * *

Rothstein and Yorburg were starting to get panicked. Well, Yorburg was seething more than he was panicking, but Rothstein felt fear rapidly climbing his throat. Not only had the escapee managed to decimate the detachment sent to capture him and the rejects that they had thrown at him some time ago, but now he and a small team of soldiers with stolen guns were cutting their forces down at an alarming pace! How could this be happening?! They had superior numbers, training and weapons! How could a Monarch escort team and one cross-species be able to despatch their forces so quickly?!

In addition to this, they had been counting on Mecha-Godzilla to dispatch the military as well as scare any who intended to oppose them back into their mouse holes, but they didn't anticipate drawing Godzilla's ire as well! While they had designed Mecha-Godzilla to be a quality facsimile of Godzilla, they new that metal and code couldn't compete with Godzilla without sacrificing the illusion the cloaking device created. They would have needed many more weapons and shield generators for that, but it would have made the final result nearly impossible to disguise as the flesh and blood king, which they never anticipated would come to challenge their creation.

All of this work, the decades of study, the blood, sweat and tears poured into the equipment, the billions of dollars spent, the effort in acquiring the test subjects and preparing them for the invasion, all going up in flames around them?!

Yorburg bellowed angrily and lifted the glass lid off of a red button. Rothstein realized what Yorburg was about to do and moved to stop him. That button would activate a serum delivery system that would pump the cross-species with a mixture of adrenaline and Rothstein's special concoction that ensured they fought. The first dose wasn't even close to wearing off and the added mixture could overwhelm the body and cause it to shut down!

Yorburg shoved Rothstein away and slammed his fist down on the button. Rothstein watched in horror as the cross-species' vitals suddenly shot through the roof!

"What have you done?!" Rothstein whispered to himself.

Grey was currently wrestling two cross-species to the ground when he felt something impact him in the side and throw him away from the two cross-species. He scrambled to his feet, steeling himself for the follow up. The Godzilla cross-species that had struck him was advancing quickly, only to stop and tumble to the ground, doubling over as though he had just been hit in the gut hard. He looked on with shock as all of the cross-species were doubling over and writhing in apparent agony. Several of the ones he had knocked out sprang back up, their eyes wide and bloodshot. They were manic and starting to tear up a little. Their breathing had also began heaving pants as they charged recklessly at him! Several of them launched blasts from their gauntlets as they came, which he dodged out of the way of. However, several of them keeled over as they approached, clutching their chests and gasping for breath before falling still. The number grew, much to his horror. Soon, there were only nine left chasing him. Four of them were burrowers, three of them were bug cross-species, and the remaining two were Godzilla cross-species. He felt them collide with him, much more ferociously than before. He pushed back before blasting them with his gauntlets, forcing them backwards. He snarled and leapt forward, grabbing a piece of scrap metal from a ruined tank. He slammed one of the burrowers in the head with it, knocking them down and throwing them heavily off balance. He then turned his attention to the bug cross-species. He tackled the first one to the ground and delivered two swift punches to it's gut, then its head. He immediately seized the other two, who had been charging him from either side, and slammed their heads together before delivering hammer blows to their heads. That put them out of commission.

He rounded on the remaining cross-species, who were charging him again. He fired blasts from his gauntlets before closing in on another burrower. He yelped in surprise and pain as he felt the burrower's claws slash his torso, but pressed forward, delivering two swift blows to their gut, causing them to double over. He then introduced their face to his knee, knocking them out.

Grey was starting to get exhausted. This fight was taking more out of him than he expected and had gotten significantly harder after they had all started acting much more like rabid animals. Even if he had much fewer numbers to contend with, they were fighting even harder now, if also sloppier.

He saw one of the two Godzilla cross-species charging him. He braced for the impact, but was still pinned against the side of a tank where the cross-species started raining down blows with unwavering ferocity. He managed to get his own punch in, causing them to stumble, whereupon he grabbed them by their shoulders and slammed his forehead into their own. He was suddenly much more thankful for his denser skeleton.

This left two burrowing cross-species, which could soon include the first one he dealt with, as well as the remaining Godzilla cross-species. He grabbed a piece of debris and leapt at them. The Godzilla cross-species leapt to meet him. He swung the piece of debris around and slammed the away before landing in front of the burrowers. He held his arms in front of his face as they swiped at him. He winced as he felt his claws form and his skin turn to scales. The claws of the burrowers skated off his arms and gauntlets, leaving thin scratches. He lashed out with his own claws, leaving small cuts on their own arms and chests. Not bad enough that they would bleed out, but enough to make them recoil and let him get knock them out with a few blows to the head, each.

He walked over to the cross-species that had been left dizzy and delivered one more hit to the head, putting them out like a light. He walked over to the side of a tank before slumping against, out of breath, bruised, battered, bloodstained and ready to pass out. He heard the helicopter descending and deftly felt two people hauling him to his feet and helping him onto a helicopter. He could also hear a much larger helicopter touching down. He blearily saw several people with the tanks designed for cross-species transport, walking over to the people he had rendered unconscious. They were loaded into the pods and moved into the transport. He could just barely see the Monarch logo on the side of it.

They were in good hands now.

* * *

Ford kept a watchful eye on Grey as he passed out. With the amount of fighting he had done today, Ford was surprised he hadn't collapsed sooner. All that would have been sustaining him by this point was determination and adrenaline. He radioed Graham and informed her of Grey's status. She recommended he be placed on the helicopter with the other cross-species so that he could get proper medical treatment.

Ford carried Grey over in a fireman's lift before handing him to the personnel on the helicopter, remarking how heavy Grey was. The large transport took off and his team returned to San Francisco. They were helping to clear up any stragglers as well as take a few prisoners to interrogate about where to go looking for wherever these terrorists were hiding. They ended up getting two of them, who were checked over for any methods of suicide before turning them over to the military for questioning.

In addition to this, Godzilla and his robotic counterpart had taken their battle out further into the bay. Godzilla had gained an immediate advantage once they got into deeper water. He was figuring out where to rupture the hull of the machine, causing seawater to start flooding the machine. Now he had the thing almost completely submerged and was focusing all of his energy one breaking open it's head. Soon enough, he overwhelmed the shield and broke a hole in it's metal skull. Water flooded inside and the machine began to flicker and spark before growing still. Godzilla then hauled it up from underwater and sank his claws into it's torso, tearing it in half. He bellowed in victory before returning to the ocean.

It became immediately clear to Ford that whoever had built that thing had not anticipated fighting Godzilla. By all appearances, it was just meant to fool everyone instead of engage the real deal in a battle to the death.

They helped with the final sweep of routing the militia before they called their report in to Graham and joined the military in searching for survivors among the destroyed buildings.

* * *

Yorburg was angrily pacing back and forth while Rothstein sat in his chair, petrified.

"How exactly did things go so poorly? How did all our decades of hard work fall apart in ONE DAY, BECAUSE OF ONE BRAT?!"

Yorburg didn't seem to take notice of Rothstein starting to edge away from him.

"I told the directors we should have sent in the younger ones as well! Then that abhorrent test subject would have been overwhelmed and we would be on our way to stage 2! But no, that was 'too risky' and 'would only encourage rebellion and resistance'. WE LOST EVERYTHING IN ONE ATTACK!"

Yorburg kept frothing. Rothstein left as swiftly and discreetly as he could. He had agreed with the directors that no one under the age of sixteen should be used in the first attack. Not only was it a bad look for when they would have won, but it also left a bit of a bad taste in his mouth. He did have to agree that it was devastating that all of their hard work had been for nought. Especially since now the world was made aware of their existence. No matter how well they were ingrained in all countries of the world, it wouldn't save them from the manhunt that would be sure to follow this botched attempt.

* * *

Yorburg stormed out of the observation room and down to his quarters. He began to bellow as he threw books from their shelves, overturned furniture, swept papers from his desk and just generally ruined his room. He stopped as he panted from the anger and exertion. He walked over to his dresser and opened it. Inside was a large black case. It was polished and gleamed in the light. He flipped up it's latch and opened it to reveal a canister with a small syringe on the end. It was filled with a sickly orange liquid that seemed soupy in consistency.

His eyes gleamed as he looked at the canister. He had no doubt that the military would find this facility and the boy would surely follow. And he would be ready to exact his vengeance.

* * *

Grey's eyes opened slowly. He was feeling really groggy and his joints felt like they had been turned to rock. As he sat up, he felt his back pop and his shoulders and elbows snap. He was suddenly set upon by doctors as they began yammering away. He wasn't paying any attention to it, but did feel himself being gently pushed back down on the hospital bed.

"Radiation levels are steady" He heard one voice state. The next he had someone shining a bright light in his eyes. He winced and tried to cover his eyes. He was slowly allowed to sit up and felt himself becoming more alert. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked around.

He was in Monarch's medical wing. He was slowly guided to his feet and stumbled a bit before finding his balance.

"How long was I out?" He asked.

"Two days, thirteen hours." A familiar voice replied. He looked over to see Graham standing nearby, along with Dr. Serizawa, Ford and the rest of his team. He groaned before rolling his shoulders, feeling them crack and pop.

"How are the other cross-species?" He asked, somewhat hesitantly. Graham's gaze dropped a bit.

"Most of them suffered a sudden biochemical trauma that killed them. The ones that are still alive are currently being kept in isolation. Whatever chemicals they were subjected to, its taken a toll and is slow to leave the system. Not counting the three we took in before, there are currently thirteen alive."

Grey felt his stomach turning. There had been at least thirty cross-species that he had dealt with personally. Well over half of them had died from those chemicals.

"Do you think the effects are permanent?" He asked as he tried to wake up the rest of his body.

"All signs point to it just needing to be flushed out of their system. We don't want to subject their bodies to any more chemicals, even counteractive ones. The strain on their systems has lessened, but too much interference could cause that strain to skyrocket." Graham answered somewhat glumly.

"We do have other information, though." Ford mentioned.

"We sent some divers to investigate the remains of that Godzilla robot and we found that it had transmission data as well as a decryption key that gave us the location of the base it was launched from. It's incredibly likely that that's their main base."

Grey straightened up immediately.

"You're saying that we know exactly where those rat bastards are and that we're going to throw them in the meat grinder where they belong?"

"Bingo."

Grey smirked.

"When do we leave?"

 **Don't start whining about how Mecha-Godzilla was 'cushy' or 'too frail' or whatever you were about to start mouthing off about. Monsters never die.**

 **Creativity: Yeah! I mean, Godzilla got destroyed once and all that was left was his heart on the ocean floor, that KEPT BEATING!**

 **Author: Yeah that is kinda disturbing. Anyway, we're not quite done with this arc yet. We're going to finish up the scrapping next time and do the big finale on chapter 16 before taking a short break to recharge and build up a backlog. However, I will say that there is something special coming up after chapter 16. It will be published before we take our little break from uploads, so it you'll get some extra stuff to chew on before we go on break.**

 **See ya next week!**


	15. Justice served Painfully

**Alright! Chapter 15!**

 **Creativity: We're getting close to the big surprise!**

 **Author: Indeed! I think we can reveal it this chapter! But not until the end, so please be patient. So, this week, we're delivering the counterattack. It's going to be amazing!**

 **Without further ado, we present chapter 15!**

* * *

Grey grumbled as he resisted the urge to scratch at his cheeks. He had been spending as much free time as he could, trying to figure out how to form gills, then practicing it once he had it down. They had tested them a week ago, and found that they worked perfectly. It was still incredibly uncomfortable though. Every time he formed gills and ducked underwater, his throat would immediately tighten up, allowing no water to enter his lungs. It still felt alien to him and the gills itched for several moments after forming, though he was glad that he wouldn't have to empty his lungs of water when he wanted to surface. Plus, it was also pretty cool that he could stay underwater as long as he liked. He was making sure he could do it on a dime, since he wouldn't be entering the base inside a submarine, like the rest of the military would. No, he would be swimming inside. Graham and a small team were working on upgrading his gauntlets and headset to make them completely airtight so that the gauntlets wouldn't short out and explode like small hydrogen bombs. That certainly made Grey much more comfortable with them strapped to his arms.

They were also working on a wetsuit for him that would still allow mobility as well as more easily circulate radiation between him and the gauntlets, thus ensuring that his personal reserves didn't fall too low. That had been a problem that he had experienced during his most previous fight. He ended up exhausting his gauntlets' supply of radiation without realizing it and started to run low himself. Graham had been forced to inject a liquefied version of his radiation supplements into his bloodstream once an hour to help his body recover. The way she described it, some of his cells had started to rapidly collapse, though once he had started receiving radiation again, the problem was solved nearly instantly. His cells rapidly regenerated back to normal, though he had still been in that coma for two and half days. Not long, all things considered, but he still considered it to be wasted time. He could have been working on his shapeshifting ability, or doing some combat training with Ford or a member of his team.

That was another thing he had been doing. Since he had nothing resembling formal training, he had been doing some exercises with members of Ford's team. He had to be extremely careful, since it was much harder to control his post-mutation strength when he was fighting something or someone, but it went well overall. They found that his new instincts paired well with grappling techniques as well as throws. He certainly was many times stronger than the average human, thus making it much easier to throw them around like beach balls.

Grey heard the phone on his wall ringing, breaking him out of his thoughts. He stood up and walked over to the phone, again resisting the urge to scratch as the gills on either side of his cheeks disappeared.

"Hello?" He greeted as he pressed the phone to his ears.

"The military is mobilizing and your suit is finished and tested." Graham said on the other side of the line.

"Alright. I'll be down to the lab."

Grey hung up and walked down to the lab wear he was greeted by Graham, who showed him the wetsuit. It was mostly dark blue, but it seemed to change shade from different angles. Graham assured him that it was all the same color. It also had small transparent strips that ran down the legs, arms and chest of the suit, which Graham explained was for funneling radiation around his body from the gauntlets and vice versa. The gauntlets were a little bulkier, but they didn't noticeably weigh more. The headset followed this fashion. In addition to this, Graham had upgraded the headset with thermal vision, radiation tracking and limited X-ray vision capabilities.

Grey packed the gear into a case and joined Ford's team at the helicopter pad. They boarded the larger transport chopper and left to join up with the military, who were currently making a beeline for the location Monarch had given them. They landed on an aircraft carrier before disembarking, where they were greeted by several Navy sailors as well as a few soldiers. Most of them looked bemused as to why a sixteen-year-old boy was there, but when they were told that he almost singlehandedly took down the entire cross-species attack force they kept their mouths shut, even if Grey could tell they didn't believe it. He slipped into a room and locked it so he could change into the suit. After snapping the gauntlets into place and making sure the headset was secure, he made his way back up to the deck and waited for Ford's word. He and his team had boarded the main submarine and Ford was preparing to give the word.

The moment Grey was given the go, he dove from the deck as his gills formed. Immediately, he felt water rush over his gills, instantly relieving the itch. He closed his mouth to allow himself to get rid of the air he was holding in his lungs. After a plume of bubbles was freed from his nose, he opened his mouth again to allow the water back in again.

* * *

Looking ahead, he could see the submarine heading towards a rock face underwater. He started kicking, cutting through the water with ease. His strength made it much easier to swim, and he suspected that Godzilla's natural affinity to water aided. He could see the massive metal wall between him and the militia. The submarine was positioned in front of the door. It proceeded to fire several torpedoes at the reinforced metal. Grey half expected there to be some sort of shield on the door, but he was surprised to see the explosions punch holes in the metal. He waited for them to pause before swimming through one of the holes and into the base. He saw a ladder on the far end of the launch and kicked over to it before scrambling out of the water!

Immediately he looked around and saw that there were guards all pointing their weapons at the dock for submarines. He snarled before tucking his legs close to his chest and launching himself into the air, colliding with the first one! He slammed his elbow down on the guard's head before kicking them aside and unleashing a blast from his left gauntlet, maintaining the stream and directing it at the guards who had turned to attack him. They were all either knocked back and rendered unconscious, or leapt from the railing into the water below.

He immediately spun to see two more guards enter the room, weapons trained on him. He leapt into the air and kicked the first one down before punching the other in the arm, breaking it with a loud snap! He then reached down and hauled the first guard up before slamming their head into a wall. He then turned to the guard with the broken arm, who was slumped against the wall and looking aghast at their arm, before he socked them in the head. They slumped against the wall, completely out cold. He was about to make his way further into the base when he heard a loud boom and hurried back to the submarine launch to see the military had just made their way in after blowing the door out of it's frame. They all climbed out of the submarine, weapons at the ready. Several of them looked at the prone forms of the guards with looks of awe on their faces. Grey turned and hurried further into the base. He happened across a patrol and knocked them out before they had a chance to get word out they had found him. Then Ford called him over his headset.

" _Security seems low, but keep on guard. We're heading for the generator room. You keep tracking the cross-species they have captive."_

Grey acknowledged before taking a look around. He activated the radiation tracking on his headset, trying to locate the cross-species. He could see an extremely bright source further down, which was probably the reactor. Looking up, he could see several dimmer sources, spread out a bit. They were probably in separate cells, or were in a very roomy cell. He switched to thermal vision to track heat sources in the wall to an elevator. Once he found it he pushed the button to go up, only for a screen to light up next to it that said "access denied."

Grey looked at the screen unamused for a few seconds before driving his fist through the door and wrenching it open. He looked up to see the elevator above him. He turned his gaze to the cable. It was rather shiny for a cable meant to be holding an elevator. They must perform very regular maintenance on it for it to look so cared for.

Too bad it had to go. Grey leveled his arm at the cable and fired a blast from his gauntlet, cutting the cable almost instantly. He quickly got out of the way as the elevator hurtled past him, screeching as it went until it hit the floor with a echoing crash. Grey leapt into the elevator shaft, his hands now claws. He switched back to radiation tracking and leapt from wall to wall until he had reached the floor that the cross-species were being kept. He leveled his arm at the door and blasted it open, throwing the guards on the other side along for the ride. Leaping through, Grey primed his other gauntlet to fire, only to find that the corridor was empty. For a moment, anyway. Guards rounded the corners and leveled their weapons at him. He grumbled under his breath before unleashing two sustained beams at his opposition. The ones who were foolish enough to not get out of the way were launched into the walls and suffered some nasty burns. Grey sprinted forward, his claws at the ready. He slashed one guard before grabbing another and throwing them into two others. He finished the last one by throwing them into the ceiling and then punched them as they fell from the hole they made.

Grey cracked his neck as he kept advancing down the hallway. Then a voice crackled over the intercom.

" _I never imagined that you would cause this much trouble for us. One random mutation was enough to bring all our decades of hard work crumbling down. Just one small, uncontrolled variable that led to everything spiralling downwards into disaster. The mind of a monster, hidden within the brain of a boy."_

"Am I seriously getting a villainous monologue?" Grey asked out loud.

" _No matter. This setback won't be the end. We've existed to long and spread our influence too wide to allow that to happen. This branch, maybe. Maybe you've brought us down. But this is only one branch of a vast tree. Too vast for you to uproot."_

"Seriously, I'm actually being forced to listen to a terrorist deliver his 'you cannot defeat us' speech." Grey grumbled loudly. He kept pressing forward.

Eventually he reached a very large door with several guards. He cracked his neck before priming his gauntlets. They aimed their rifles at him, only to be taken out by the blasts. He snorted as he passed them, satisfied that they wouldn't be a problem anymore. He got to the door and saw another screen that read "Lockdown engaged."

Grey looked at the door before switching his headset to thermal vision. He could see that the whole thing was magnetically sealed. He tore into the metal, ripping it away as he slashed the wires for the electromagnets. The metal was much thicker and stronger than the elevator, but he was still making due with just his claws and brute strength. Soon he had the magnets shut down and was able to wrench the door open. He looked inside and felt like he had been punched in the gut.

They were all kids. None of them looked like they were even in their teens yet! They all looked at him fearfully, edging away from him and bunching up into a group. Grey shakily raise a hand to his headset.

"Ford, I found them. They're kids."

Ford's voice immediately crackled over communications.

" _You can't be serious!"_

"None of them looks to even be thirteen."

Ford let out a string of curses before he cut out. After a few moments, he was back.

" _Do you have all of them?"_

Grey switched to radiation tracking. He couldn't see anything.

"Not that I can see, but I don't see any significant physical changes like extra limbs or tails. Can you send some people up to me? Oh, and you'll need grappling hooks."

" _I'll get on it. And why do we need grappling hooks?"_

"I may have cut the elevator cable, sending it hurtling into the lower levels and becoming a smoldering pile of scrap metal."

There was only a sigh before Ford cut off communications. The kids seemed to have been listening to the conversation and gotten less wary of him. He approached slowly, trying to seem as non-threatening as he could. As he got closer, he could see that he wasn't entirely right about them not having physical changes. About half of them were sporting either small patches of scales, reptilian eyes or some other change from their otherwise human appearance. The most significant was on a boy of Asian origin, who had the dark grey and white coloration of the bug MUTO from 2014 on his arms. It was reasonable to assume that it was on the rest of his torso as well.

"I'm here to get you out of here." Grey said calmly. That didn't seem to evoke a lot of trust, so he let his arms become reptilian.

"I was taken away like you were. I'm here with more people to help you."

That seemed to get a better reaction. He slowly walked out, keeping an eye and ear open for trouble. He motioned for them to follow him before he got on his knee to be at their level.

"You stay behind me, okay? We're going to go to an elevator where my friends are, and we're going to take you to a boat. Then we'll escape. Okay?"

They nodded. None of them seemed to want to speak. He led them slowly through the maze of corridors. They're eyes widened every time they passed on of the many guards he had rendered unconscious on his way to their cell. Once he reached the elevator, he checked in with Ford, who informed him that there were three soldiers heading back up to the elevator. He patched them through to Grey, who they informed were two minutes away from the elevator, max. Grey told the kids to hang tight as he took vigil. Hopefully he wouldn't have to do any fighting with the kids around.

* * *

Ford had expected much more resistance as they approached the generator. That wasn't to say they had encountered light resistance. The number of guards between them and the reactor was immense. However, their numbers weren't as great as Ford had anticipated. He suspected that Grey had drawn a lot of attention, thus they deployed more of their security forces to bring him down. Not that it would do them any good. With Grey fully rested and possessing a surplus of radiation to draw on, not to mention a very powerful motivator, the guards didn't stand a chance.

Ford shot down another guard as they reached the control room for the generator. Unsurprisingly, it was a nuclear reactor. They took out the guards and technicians before they began searching for the shut down. It took them a few minutes, but they finally located it. Unfortunately, it required two simultaneous key-cards and three handprints. They searched the technicians, locating key cards from two of them, before dragging the remaining three technicians to the hand print scanners.

Suddenly, Grey's voice came onto comms. He explained the situation to Ford, who sent three soldiers back towards the elevator Grey had trashed. When he turned back to the rest of the soldiers, they gone through the procedures and disabled the reactor. The facility was now running on rapidly draining capacitors. They immediately began to backtrack before an alarm began blaring. Machines on treads rolled into the room. Armed with machine guns and laser tracking, Ford knew that this was going to be a tough fight. The soldiers immediately leapt behind cover, but not all of them made it. Four of their number were gunned down before they made it to safety. Ford peeked around the corner and shot at the treads of one robot, disabling it. Another soldier shot out it's laser tracker, causing it to malfunction and start firing its weapons at random! The other robots were cut down swiftly, allowing the soldiers to finish it off with a well places grenade. Ford and the other soldiers picked up their fallen comrades and made their way out. They could hear loud buzzing, quad copters, around the corner. Ford took point, shooting down the drones before they could track them. They made their way up the stairwell and back towards the submarine. Ford just hoped that Grey was handling the kids alright.

* * *

Grey was overjoyed when the soldiers called up to him. They fired the grappling hooks up to Grey, who ensured they were properly fastened. He turned to the kids.

"Okay, you're going to slide down, one at a time per rope. When they say go, the next person goes alright? Hold on tight."

The kids did as instructed. Soon, most of them were safely in the hands of the soldiers. They kept going until the last two kids were primed to start sliding down. Then the voice in the intercom spoke up again.

" _You aren't quite done yet. You see, we received a test subject a few hours before we mobilized for our attack. A bit of a late runner, but what can you do? He hasn't been mutated yet, so we kept him separate from the others. They didn't even know about him! If you want to take him as well, you'll have to come get him from me. Head down the corridor to your left. You'll know where to go from there."_

Grey resisted the urge to employ his most choice swear words. There was no way the other soldiers hadn't heard that. Once he received the all clear from them, he immediately began stalking down the indicated corridor until he came to a metal door. He kicked it out of his way, leading to a branching corridor. He looked around and saw a large, circular door straight ahead. He marched towards it, feeling his body temperature rising steadily. His blood vessels began to faintly glow blue.

He approached the door and tore through it like it was paper. He could see a man standing in the center of a large, dome shaped room. The man was holding a boy, about eight years old, with one hand, and a revolver in the other. It looked like a rather fancy revolver as well. That only increased Grey's contempt for the man. He walked until the man motioned to stop by pointing the revolver at the boy's head. Grey stopped, resisting the urge to fire his gauntlets. He held his arms at his side, rigidly.

"Your determination would be admirable if it wasn't making my gorge rise." The man said. The superiority in his voice was thick, but it couldn't mask the desperation and insanity behind it.

"You kidnapped dozens upon dozens of people, experimented on them, mutated them and forced them to fight a war for you, and you hold a gun to a kid's head to keep one of your experiments from gutting you, and you are sickened by me?" Grey spat back. The man bared his teeth in a snarl.

"We aided you in evolving beyond humanity's frailty and prolonged your life by decades, if not centuries. You ought to be grateful to be freed of humanity's natural weaknesses."

"I didn't ask to be turned in to a half human, half radioactive reptile freak! I didn't want to live for centuries! You kidnapped me and god knows how man others, and experimented on us like rats!" Grey shouted.

The man pressed the gun closer to the boy's head.

"Humanity will never evolve beyond it's limitations without us. You've destroyed any chance of me giving this gift to anyone else. I have nothing left but vengeance."

He aimed the revolver at Grey.

"So, here's what's going to happen. You are going to stand there, and let me shoot you as many times as I wish before I finally kill you. Then I'll let the boy go. But if you so much as spark those gauntlets of yours, you get to watch as I blow this child's brains out before I put you out of your misery. I have nothing left to lose. My research is ruined and this facility is set to self destruct soon. There's enough time for the boy to make it, but you and I won't."

Grey stood there for a moment before his blood vessels stopped glowing. The man smirked before aiming the revolver and pulling the trigger. The bullet struck Grey in the shoulder, causing him to turn from the impact. However, the moment he felt the bullet hit, his other arm swung around and fired a blast straight into the man's eye! The man began screaming bloody murder as the boy wriggled loose and ran to Grey. Grey told him where to go as fast as he could before turning around. He gritted his teeth in pain as he pulled the bullet out of his shoulder. He could feel his flesh knitting itself back together. He walked towards the man, who had stumbled to his feet. His left hand was held over the damaged eye while the right reached back and pulled out an cylinder. It was filled with some sort of orange substance and appeared to be designed like an epi-pen. He lowered his hand from his eye, revealing the socket to be blackened and the eye to be half burned away. He bellowed with rage as he slammed the cylinder into his leg. He went rigid. His remaining eye bulged as he began gasping for breath. He grabbed at his sides as he began howling in pain. Grey watched in horror as the man began change. His jaw began to deform. His lower left of it grew a boney spike, like that of the creatures from 2014, while the other side took the shape of the burrower from earlier that year. The top right looked like Godzilla with the bug creatures' eyes, while the other side looked human with Godzilla's eye.

The rest of his body was looking like a similar hodgepodge of the other creatures. His right arm was like Godzilla's but the hand was more like that of the burrower. His left was completely that of the bug creatures'. He had four legs. One of Godzilla's, two of the bug creatures', and the final was that of the burrower's. His torso was just a patchwork of all three creatures. The creature doubled over, revealing Godzilla's spines to be sticking out of its back, seemingly completely random in placement.

Grey never felt to revolted in his entire life. The creature let out a torturous scream before it charged him. Its stride was horribly crude and its actions were primitive and shambling. Grey formed his claws and felt his skin under the suit becoming scales. He felt it spread up his neck, coming to a stop with several lines of it on his face. He let out a challenging bellow, reminiscent of Godzilla's as he charged to meet his foe.

That was a mistake. This monstrosity was many times stronger than him and he was thrown aside with a single hit. He slammed into the wall and slumped down, dazed by the strike. He heard the creature shriek again as it bore down on him again. He leapt sideways as it slammed into the wall. Grey raised both his gauntlets and unleashed twin streams of thermonuclear energy, focusing it all on the creature. It roared as it pulled itself free before it fired a green beam from it's misshapen jaws, forcing Grey to leap away again. He charged the creature and slammed into it with his shoulder, winding it. He then began to throw wild punches, forcing it back further. Then the monster hit him again, throwing him to the ground. It began to stomp on him repeatedly. He struggled to get up, only to be thrown to the ground again by another stomp. Finally, he managed to twist around and hit the creature in the face with a blast from his gauntlet. It shrieked bloody murder as it stumbled back, clutching it's face as Grey stumbled to his feet, struggling to maintain balance. He looked up and saw that the walls were heavily cracked where he had been thrown into them. He began firing blasts at the cracks, weakening the wall further. Finally, he rushed forward and seized the creature, lifting it over his head! With a bellow, he hurled it into the damaged wall before unleashing two more blasts. The wall collapsed on the creature and Grey started to leave. However, there was a crashing noise and the creature rose from the rubble again, it's insectoid jaw hanging limp. It slammed its insectoid limb into its jaw, making a snapping noise. Then it bellowed and charged him like an enraged bull!

Grey tried to dodge, but his ankle was caught and he was violently swung around, slamming into the walls, the floor, over and over. Eventually he was thrown into the wall again. He started staggering to his feet again, spitting up blood. He shakily got to his feet, only to be headbutted and have his arms pinned to the wall. He looked up through foggy vision to see the creature glaring at him. It slammed its head into him over and over, causing his vision to dim each time. Then he saw the creature rear back it's head. The spines on it's back began to glow a sickly green and a high-pitched hum filled the air. He could see the glow building in it's gaping jaws. He snarled before jerking forward, headbutting the monster in the chest. He felt it's grip slacken and he tore himself loose before grabbing it around it's torso and pushing with all his might! The creature was thrown off balance, giving him the opportunity to deliver a vicious right uppercut, followed by a kick to the abdomen. He pressed forward, continuing to deliver blow after punishing blow. However, the monstrosity soon found its balance again and swatted him away. Grey was able to brace for the blow this time. The creature was now swiping at him, knocking him back a foot or two with every hit. Then it brought both arms down in a hammer blow, forcing him to a knee. Another strike and was forced further down. A third blow and he was forced onto his hands and knees. A fourth and he was lying face down on the ground. The creature raised its arms for another attack, only to start shrieking. Grey looked up to see it being peppered with bullets! He turned to see Ford and two other soldiers unleashing their whole clip on the monster. He rose to his feet and charged again, slamming his shoulder into its torso, throwing it back several feet. He kept going before he drove his claws into its chest and yanked with all his might! He swung it around and threw it straight up into the ceiling before unleashing twin streams from his gauntlets! The creature let out a wounded and weary shriek before it fell from the ceiling and the ceiling began to collapse! Grey, Ford and the soldiers fled the room as it collapsed on the creature. They could hear it shrieking as it was buried under stone and metal.

Grey immediately leaned against a wall and took several deep breaths.

"This is way too much excitement… and bleeding… I need a vacation…" He panted. Ford was about to respond when the pile of rubble began to shift. Grey's eyes widened with shock as the monstrosity hauled itself free of the rubble. It was covered in lacerations and was bleeding a sickly yellow blood. It's Godzilla eye was completely destroyed and its insectoid jaw had been dislocated again. It started to weakly limp towards the group. Grey looked down and saw several sharp scraps of metal littered on the ground. He grabbed on and rushed forward, his mouth open in a silent bellow. He ducked the clumsy swipe from the monstrosity and drove the metal through it's leg, straight into the ground! The creature shrieked in pain, swinging wildly at him. He retreated and grabbed another fragment. This one was peppered with holes, most likely a support for the corridors and hallways. He drove this one through it's other leg. He then proceeded to do the same to its arms and back legs before grabbing one last one and driving it through it's back and bending the metal so it couldn't pull free.

"Walk away from that, you son of a bitch." Grey muttered exhaustedly. The creature wheezed in pain before it slumped over. Grey took a few shaky steps forward before starting to collapse. Ford caught him and held him up while one of the other soldiers supported him on the other side. They walked back towards the elevator shaft and made their way back to where the submarine was waiting. After helping him inside, they launched and made it out of the facility and back to the aircraft carrier.

Rothstein walked down a hallway with erratic, flickering light. He soon came to the new, monstrous form of Yorburg, who despite appearances was still alive. Rothstein reached back to an empty cylinder on his belt and held it up to Yorburg.

"Perhaps we should have terminated you long ago. You always were just barely useful when weighed against your ego, impulsiveness and instability. Still, perhaps you can be of use one more time."

Rothstein violently slammed the cylinder into Yorburg's spine, causing him to groan in pain. The cylinder was filled with sickly yellow liquid and Rothstein reattached it to his belt. Then he pulled out a very blocky looking revolver that had glowing blue lines along each chamber. He slowly pushed the barrel into Yorburg's mouth before a loud bang and a blue flash was seen on the other side of Yorburg's head. Rothstein stood up and walked away, pulling out a white cloth and cleaning the revolver of Yorburg's blood.

* * *

 **GODZILLA DAMN! Over 5000 words for one chapter! This is a new record for the story!**

 **Creativity: Yeah, and it would have been longer, but the rest of it flowed better as a beginning for chapter 6.**

 **Author: Yeah.**

 **SO! BIG ANNOUNCEMENT TIME! I am doing a two-part Halloween special that will be uploaded on Hallows Eve and Halloween. Don't expect them to be too long. They take place in-universe, but they don't really add much to the overall story. It's just a little treat for you all to enjoy this coming night of spooooooky, scaaaaaary, cavity filled, HALLOWEEN NIGHT! (Thunderclap in the background)**

 **I'll be giving this story a break so I can recharge the creative batteries and rebuild my backlog so that I'm not caught with my pants down like on my last story. I'll give notice when I am starting to upload again.**

 **Looking forward to chapter 16! It's not going to have any gory action scenes for a change and it might be a bit shorter since I've been going above and beyond for the big fight chapters.**

 **See you next week!**


	16. Coming Home

**Well here we are. Chapter 16. In a way, it's kind of a season finale. If you ignore the Halloween special we're working on, that is.**

 **Creativity: Yeah… What are we doing for that again?**

 **Author: … Did you just try to get me to reveal spoilery elements to our Halloween special?**

 **Creativity: …meep...**

 **Author: Please enjoy chapter 16 while I deal with this creature of spoilerific destruction.**

 _Two weeks since counter-attack_

Grey was pacing back and forth as he waited for Graham to emerge from the room in the back. He had been waiting for about five minutes and he was getting incredibly anxious. Finally, the door opened and Graham walked out, her expression was confusing. She was smiling, but there was a hint of sadness and disappointment in them.

"Did it work?" Grey asked. Graham motioned for him to follow.

"We were able to reverse some of the changes, but based on the data, we won't be able to use it as a 'cure-all'. What little data we were able to pull from the base before it was blown to kingdom come revealed that their DNA was in a state of instability that they were going to correct, but instead deployed them to kill you. This instability has changed since then, so we can't guarantee similar results." Graham explained. Grey wasn't having any of it.

"Doc, what happened?" He asked firmly. Graham tablet to show him.

"The largest one still has wings, but they're much smaller and could be hidden under a jacket, albeit a bit uncomfortably. The middle one still has their ring finger and pinky fused together on their left hand, insectoid eyes on the left as well, and their right foot is still that of..."

"Let me guess, insectoid?"

Graham nodded.

"As for the last one, they have the dark grey and ivory patterning of the insectoids on their upper arms, chest, torso and thighs. The patterning is also much tougher than normal skin. Also, none of that touches on potential psychological changes."

Grey nodded.

"Well, at least they can pass for human easier. That'll make it easier to track down their families. Speaking of which, how are we doing on that front?"

Graham opened another file on the tablet.

"We managed to acquire a list of all the people they kidnapped and compared it to the list of current missing people. We're in the middle of contacting their families as we speak."

"What of the dead?" Grey asked, his tone somber.

"We… broke that news first. We have twenty families who should be here within the hour. Are you sure you don't want to go home to your family?"

Grey shook his head.

"I'm not going anywhere until this is over, and I say it's not over until the names on this list are reunited with their families… one way or another."

"Are you sure you aren't just nervous about seeing your family after everything you've been through?"

Grey sighed.

"I won't deny it's a factor."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Grey was waiting with a group of twenty children of varying ages and nationalities. He instructed them to wait quietly while he went out to explain the situation to their families before they were brought in. Steeling his nerves, he walked through the door to be greeted by a family of three. The others would waiting so that Grey didn't have to deal with them all at once. Some were talking to Graham and Ford about the specifics of why their families had been torn apart so cruelly. They all stood as he came to a stop. He motioned for them all to sit so that he could explain everything.

He spent ten minutes explaining why the children had been kidnapped and what had been done to them before revealing he had been through the same. He also assured them that Monarch had done a thorough health check with the data they had obtained and that they were all perfectly healthy for their condition now, and that after a psychiatric and other tests, they were generally fine, save a few individuals. The individuals in question experienced similar traits to Grey, in that their fight or flight instinct now leaned much more towards fight. He went on to explain the new needs that the children would have and how Monarch would provide the best aid the could in meeting those needs.

Once he was done all the explaining, he went and got the first kid. They had small patches of Godzilla's skin on their torso, but otherwise they were fine. He also got a kit for them. The kit contained contact information for Graham, a small bottle of radiation supplements with attached instructions, and a special wrist band that was a modified version of Grey's gauntlets. The wrist band would ensure that the kid didn't emit radiation, thus turning the environment around him into a radioactive hot spot.

Seeing the family reunite made Grey feel more confident about meeting with the rest of the families. Graham had made sure to have a few rooms set aside so that the families could process everything by themselves. He offered one of the rooms, but the family forewent the offer, instead choosing to head back to the hotel that Monarch was hosting them in.

The rest of the day went like that. He explained what happened and how to proceed with how the children had been changed. He brought their child out and provided them with their kit. It all went very well, up until the end.

One family seemed unwilling to accept that there wasn't any way to reverse the changes and went so far as to verbally attack him, claiming that he and Monarch were just refusing to do anything about it. That almost got a rise out of him, but he kept himself under control and tried to get a handle on the situation.

"None of us wanted this for anyone. I certainly didn't want to be kidnapped from my home and be experimented on by a madman, but there isn't anything I can do about it."

"If this can be done to someone, why can't it be undone?!" The father demanded angrily, rising to his feet. Grey remained where he was, not the least bit intimidated and visually demonstrating his non-reactiveness to the man.

"Tampering with genetics isn't something we can do because we feel like it. We don't have the resources or knowledge to get rid of the mutation. Look, even if there was a slim chance we could reverse the mutation, we run a much greater risk of causing the mutation to increase. Do you honestly want to risk making this even worse for him? He got off comparatively light compared to some of us. The only visual mutation is a few of his teeth being sharper, and their further back in his mouth. The only ones who would find out are his dentist or really weird bullies."

The father continued to stand there before deflating. He slumped down, rubbing his forehead. Grey felt sympathetic. If something like this had happened to Sam or Mark, he would be up in arms too, looking for some miracle cure or to grab the nearest pitchfork and start marching.

"do you both need some time?" Grey asked. The mother and father nodded their heads. Grey nodded before opening one of the rooms for them. They went inside and Grey waited patiently. After fifteen minutes, they came out.

"Want me to go get him?" He offered. They nodded their heads and he went into the room and came out with the boy. He immediately ran to his parents who started tearing up the moment they saw him. Grey smiled a little as he grabbed the last kit. After letting them have their moment, he gave them the kit and explained it's contents. After seeing them back to the Monarch car, he went back inside and let out an exhausted breath. Graham was watching sympathetically.

"Dealing with all that can't have been easy."

Grey nodded.

"Yeah. And that's just the kids. The teenagers are going to be a whole different stress."

Graham raised an eyebrow.

"Technically, you're still a teenager."

Grey rolled his eyes.

"After the lunacy I've been dealing with, I wish I could go back to just being a teenager. I'm not sure how I just go back to high school after I've been turned into a Godzilla cross-species, single handedly beat a terrorist militia multiple times, was present for Godzilla's resurfacing, fought over three dozen cross species and won, and then killed the creature that experimented on us. I'm certainly not going back to school until I've had a month's vacation time at least."

Graham shrugged.

"Fair enough. I'd recommend getting some rest. We've got more families coming either tomorrow or the day after."

"How are the others? Is that cocktail out of their systems yet?"

Graham frowned.

"Most of them, yes. However, they are exhibiting symptoms of withdrawal. It seems that whatever chemicals they were subjected to, they've had a steady supply of it for some time. I already ran the numbers and the withdrawal won't kill them, but it is one more delay for them to recover."

Grey grumbled tiredly to himself before saying farewell to Graham and returning to his quarters. He fell onto his bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

 _One week later…_

Grey was currently meeting with the families of the teenagers they were caring for. Several of them had made it through the withdrawal, but not without Grey having to occasionally step into to prevent them from hurting themselves. The families of the ones who were still recovering were offered the chance to see them. Regardless of whether or not they opted to see them, Grey assured them that the state of the teenagers was only temporary and that they were being well cared for. Several family members broke down in some way, whether they just stared ahead blankly or started crying. Some got angry, though Grey was able to defuse the situation, explaining how exposing them to any more chemicals would just be incredibly risky and that the chemicals would work their way out of the victims' bodies soon enough.

Once that nightmare of meetings was over with (Despite feeling joy when he was able to help the families become whole again), he met with Graham to discuss the 'rejects'. The three that they had been able to help revert in some way did have some 'quirks' still. The former smallest one, a girl from India, was still only able to vocally communicate through various clicking noises, though she had a much wider range of patterns to indicate various things. Other than that, her understanding of her surroundings, who she was and everyone else was completely 'human', for lack of a better term. Grey preferred to not use normal, finding it to be a bit degrading. She had her writing ability inhibited due to the mutation, though it could be recovered. The former largest, a boy from America named Barry, was a pretty twitchy and reacted quickly to any movement or noise. The middle one, a boy from England named Simon, didn't seem to have as much of a dramatic psychological change compared to his fellow cross-species, though he did have a higher sensitivity and draw towards ionizing radiation.

Grey and Graham had been working with them, trying to help them on their way back to their homes. The girl, who had been nicknamed Click, was becoming well practiced at sign language and was recovering her writing capabilities, allowing her to better communicate with everyone. They also started to learn more about her new vocalizations through her facial expressions. By now they had yes, no, please, I'm thirsty, I'm hungry and I'm exasperated down. It also seemed that Barry and Simon were able to pick up on Click's vocalizations better than Grey and Graham. Not all that entirely surprising.

* * *

 _Another week later…_

Grey was extremely nervous. It was unreasonable he thought, considering the insanity had tackled since he'd last been on this road. He watched the houses roll by as the car he was in rolled to a stop in front of his home. Monarch had called ahead for him, sending a representative ahead to ensure that they knew it wasn't someone playing a cruel joke. Still, his stomach was about ready to drop through the floor. He shakily stepped out of the car before walking up the path to his front door. He raised a hand up and knocked thrice on the door. There was a brief pause before the door opened. His mom and dad were standing there. His mom looked like a nervous wreck while his dad looked just about ready to crack. Before he even opened his mouth, the both pulled him into a massive hug. He returned, albeit much more restrained. He didn't want to damage a vertebrate, especially with how long he'd been gone. A hospital trip was not what he wanted.

After several long moments, he heard a pair of shrieks and heard feet sprinting towards him. Sam and Mark leapt to tackle hug him, though he didn't even budge. He gave them both big hugs and felt his parents join for a massive group hug.

After several minutes, the hug broke and they all sat down in the living room. Everyone was silent for a while before he finally spoke.

"You two haven't gone in my room, right?"

The twins just shook their heads.

"What happened to you?" His father asked. Grey sighed and lowered his head.

"This is going to be really heavy. Look, I know that this is all going to sound unbelievable, but it is one hundred percent true and I have people to back me up on it."

And so, Grey told them everything. He told them about what he was kidnapped for, his escape, his eventual recruitment into Monarch, the other cross-species, his presence in San Francisco when it was attacked, how he freed the rest of his fellow cross-species and how he had spent the last month or so helping them get back to their families. He omitted the more explicit details, due to Sam and Mark being there, but other than that, he laid everything out. Needless to say, they were shocked and didn't quite believe him at first. However, when he showed him his hand turning into claws and back, as well as his ability to lift their furniture like a textbook, they were much more open minded.

They were eager to offer apologies for what he'd been through, but he wouldn't have any of it. However, he did make it clear that this was not to be discussed until this became public knowledge. For now, Monarch wanted to help the people affected by this madness find some stability and comfort, as well as provide for their new needs before they went public with all of this.

And of course, there was one last order of business.

"I need a vacation."

 **Ahh… It's nice to get this done. So it's a little shorter. I've written enough extra words In the last two chapters that it comes to an extra chapter entirely! Cut me some slack.**

 **Creativity: We still have the Halloween special. To finish.**

 **Author: Yeah, yeah. In all honesty, I'm kinda looking forward to it. I wanna have Grey hanging out with his friends a bit, doing Halloween stuff, all post reptilification. Not that they know that, but hey. If you could make your teeth sharpen, turn your eyes yellow and grow scales, you'd love Halloween too!**

 **As I mentioned last chapter, the Halloween special is divided into two parts. One for October 30** **th** **, and the other for October 31** **st** **. They'll both be at least the length of an average chapter and I think you'll enjoy!**

 **See you soon!**

 **/Edit/**

 **Shortly after posting this chapter, I checked back and realized that the story has surpassed 2100 views as of this writing. I started uploading this story for three and a half months now, and I can safely say that this is a new record. I just want to give a big thank you to everyone who decided to have a gander at my work.**

 **Happy Halloween!**


	17. Halloween Special part 1

**The skies are dark, this night. It is Hallows Eve and shadows shiver, eager for the for the night when they may rise and join the ghoulish and strange on HALLOWEEN NIGHT!**

 **Author: … Are you done?**

 **Creativity: You really know how to deflate the dramatic buildup, don't you…**

 **Author: Please, you make it too easy.**

 **Well as you can probably figure out, this is part one of our Halloween special. To those who read this and still trick or treat, best of luck tomorrow! I personally, will be heading to a shop on November first and buying the candy on heavily slashed prices! (I have a mild sugar addiction. I swear it's mild and not at all a ravenous, slobbering beast that will inevitably consume my very soul.)**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this part one of this special!**

Grey groaned grumpily as his alarm clock started blaring. He rolled over and lightly pressed the button to shut it off. His previous alarm clock was squashed into a wad of plastic and metal and sitting on his desk. As was the one before that. He got up and went about getting ready for the day. A Saturday to be specific. And an ungodly time to be up at, on Saturday.

He took his radiation supplements and walked downstairs, making a very audible thump with every step, despite his best efforts to not do so. His new weight was definitely more apparent in his own home than it had been at Monarch. Luckily, everyone was already up and eating breakfast. They had discovered after the first week of his return that one would either wake up before him, or at the same time. His change simply didn't allow for anything else.

He muttered a tired 'morning' to everyone before sitting down in his seat, which creaked under his weight. They would have to replace it or reinforce it for him. Heck, it would probably be a good idea to do that with all the chairs so that they wouldn't collapse after Grey wore them all out.

Grey ate his cereal in silence before he finally got up and stretched.

"If you're looking for me, I'll be in my room." He said before going back upstairs and pulling up today's to-do list on his laptop. Today, he was going to finish catching up on his school work. He had opted to drop out of high school once he had finished the year, since he simply wouldn't be able to keep his changes under wraps and he didn't want to go through grade 12 with his reptilian side being common knowledge. He knew it would be unavoidable, but since he had a job with Monarch that would involve a lot of travel, he wouldn't have to worry about money or being stuck in his hometown as either a celebrity, or as the local boogeyman.

But first, he wanted to finish grade eleven.

Once item one was done, he was going to get in touch with Graham, regarding the new facility that Monarch was constructed for the purposes of cross-species support and study. It was being built on the west side of Vancouver Island. Grey would be working from there, helping the cross-species that opted to live there full time to adjust to the changes they had gone through, as well as travelling to visit the other cross-species for follow ups and collecting data.

Once his meeting with Graham was done, he would be helping to prepare for Halloween. Sam and Mark were already buzzing with excitement. The decorations had been put up a few days ago, and the twins were finishing their costumes. Mark was going as a mummy, while Sam was going as a vampire. Grey would be walking the blocks with them and he was just going to grab an old shirt, rip it up and turn parts of his body reptilian, including his eyes and teeth. Since no one knew about his transformation yet, he suspected he would get some interesting feedback on his 'costume'. He just hoped that people would buy the 'fake lizard skin' shtick if someone actually noticed it looked and felt like scales.

Grey shook his head, clearing it of his thoughts before printing off his remaining work and tackling it head on. He worked for nearly two hours before he finally submitted the last assignment. After that, he would begin studying for his late exams and he would be done with high school. Not exactly how he thought his life would go, and there would surely be questions, but those would be answered when the United Nations made the big announcement. Speaking of…

Grey grabbed his new phone and called Graham, who answered after a few moments.

"How's construction going?" Grey asked.

" _It's going well, but it's been a bit of pain, getting those new materials we need. That, and the crew working on the boat launch says it has been delayed. We're bringing in what materials we can via helicopter, but it's taking too long that way."_

"Any word from the CIA on whether or not there's been any sign of new bases?"

 _Nothing yet, but we were able to keep copies of some of the records for our own investigation, including a list of scientists involved. Among them were one Dr. Yorburg and Dr. Rothstein. Both were renowned for genetics and biochemistry. We also learned that they have people everywhere, except Monarch. We were infiltrated for a time, but after we caught that one agent, all the others bolted. It's incredibly likely that they have a few people inside the CIA, FBI, even the United Nations, but we have no way of proving it."_

Grey rubbed his temple with his left hand.

"So, we're still completely surrounded."

" _I doubt that they'll make any move against Monarch or you, after you practically took down their base single handedly and made off with all their cross-species. They'll lay low and do their research quietly. Ford's already doing some digging, trying to pin down a lead. In the meantime, lets just try to help those they harmed."_

"Fair enough. Well, I better go help with the Halloween shopping. Just some last-minute stuff, like candy and final touches for the twins' costumes."

" _Well, have fun. I've got to finish these forms, then I might touch base with some of our new staff. I'll call you if something important happens."_

Grey hung up and went downstairs. It was twelve and the family was sitting down to lunch. He took his seat, ignoring the creaking protests of the chair, and ate quickly before he left the house with his mother and the twins. They opted to walk since the new car that Monarch was sending them hadn't arrived yet. The car was designed to accommodate Grey's new weight since when Grey had gotten into the old one, it tipped uncomfortably to the side. Plus, it had been the same car that he had been kidnapped from, making him less than eager to hop in for a joy ride. They did their shopping quickly and hurried home so they could finish preparing. Halloween was only a few days away, and they wanted everything ready. When they got home, Grey went to the garage and hauled out all of their Halloween furnishings. They had skeleton hands and gravestones set up on the lawn, as well as two large inflatable pumpkins. Then they went about stringing up the orange and purple lights along the sidewalk.

As they were putting the finishing touches on the yard, a few of Grey's friends came by. Specifically, three of them. They were Max, Tobi and Jessica.

Grey had known Tobi forever. They had gone to school together since kindergarten and their friendship remained strong, even through the comings and goings of other friends. That's where Max and Jessica came in. Max had been a friend of Tobi's for a few years before he started hanging out with Grey as well. Jessica was Max's cousin and her family had moved into the neighbourhood a little under two years ago. Max introduced her to the rest of the group and the rest was history.

Jessica and Tobi actually had a mutual crush and both didn't realize that the other felt the same way. This was a vast source of amusement for Grey and Max, though it was of a lesser extent to Max. They kept their mouths shut about it though, by unspoken agreement. This had been happening for close to a year now, and they were wondering just how long it would be before one of them cracked and confessed, and who it would be. Grey was of the opinion that it would be up until graduation, though Max thought it would be earlier. By this point, the three of them were a month into grade 12, while Grey was finishing grade eleven before dropping out for his new job at Monarch. Thus, Grey was feeling more and more confident in his prediction.

"How's the schoolwork treating you?" Tobi asked.

"It's not that bad. I get to work through it at my own pace and I don't have to do history." Grey answered.

"Lucky S.O.B." Max muttered exaggeratedly.

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad." Jessica piped up.

"You were asleep on the desk, drooling." Max pointed out, causing Jessica's face to turn red with embarrassment.

"No need to tell the whole world." She muttered under her breath. Grey just snickered.

"Yeah, it is nice to be free of that."

"So, you gonna tell us what this gig you have after you take your exams is?" Max asked. Grey shook his head.

"No. Not yet. There's still some legal stuff that needs to be taken care of before I'm allowed to disclose anything." Grey responded firmly. This had been a recurring topic that the three kept bringing up.

"You sound like you should be wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase when you say that." Tobi jabbed, though with a hint of annoyance. Grey shrugged.

"Look, as much as I would love to tell you all, I can't. I'm going to work for a company, and companies have policies on what employees can or cannot say in regards to company specific information. Especially since where I'm working, there's still a lot of documentation that needs to be cleared up before I can tell my family, let alone you guys. My hands are tied." Grey stated even more firmly. His tone definitively said, 'this conversation is over.'

The four of them hung out for another hour, talking about stuff around the neighbourhood, what everyone was dressing up as for Halloween, who at their school was still going trick or treating for the fun of it, just general chatter. Tobi was going as a zombie, Max was going as the grim reaper and Jessica was dressing as a reptile monster from a recent movie. Grey absolutely loved the irony. He hadn't told them what he was going as yet. He had seen the movie and knew that he wasn't going to resemble anything from the movie in the slightest, but he still wanted it to be a surprise. He said goodbye and went inside for dinner. They talked about the day before Grey excused himself and went upstairs to do some studying as well as find some new schematics for projects he wanted to make. After that, it was time for bed.

* * *

Hungry. It was so hungry. Its hunger had not been sated for many nights, and it was growing uncontrollable. It had to feed soon, or else...

It crept through the shadows, avoiding every street lamp, every light cast by cars. It searched desperately for food…

It must feed…

* * *

Grey's eyes snapped open. It was weird. He hadn't had a nightmare, but he woke up incredibly alert. He looked over at the clock. 2:36 in the morning. Grey groaned and reached over for a glass of water. Suddenly, he noticed something zip passed his peripheral vision. He looked out his window, but didn't see anything. Then he heard the yelp of an animal as well as a scrambling of limbs on the ground. Then he heard someone fall to the ground. He opened his window and leapt out, not caring for the October chill. He easily leapt the fence and hurried the back lane before he saw someone lying on the ground. He approached cautiously. The body was pale, but they were still breathing. He pulled out his phone and immediately called the police before taking a closer look. Then he saw something that made him pause. He pulled out his phone again and pressed a name in his contact list.

"Graham, I know it's the middle of the night, but there's something weird going on here." He snapped a picture and sent it to Graham. Two small puncture wounds on the neck of the victim.

* * *

The police arrived a few minutes later and secured the crime scene. Grey had already informed his parents of what has happening. He was detained for questioning, which he expected would happen. After that, he was dragged along to the police station to give him a polygraph. He passed it, of course, though the machine had to go through special calibration for him, since his physiology was so different (Not that they knew that).

By this point, Graham arrived with a few assistants and offered her services in the form of a blood analysis as well as an examination of the wound. The assistants held a number of machines over the wound while Graham performed the blood analysis. Immediately, Graham was dumbfounded.

"This is nothing like what I was expecting." Graham breathed.

"Uh, doc? Could you explain what's happening?" Grey asked.

"Sorry. The red blood cells are all carrying some sort of micro-organism that appears to be carrying genetic information. Every time one cell hits one that isn't carrying the organism, it immediately picks up several 'spores' that immediately grow into another micro-organism."

"And what is the information they're carrying?" Grey questioned further.

"Not sure. Considering how 'contagious' it is, for lack of a better term, it could be mutative, though nothing like yours."

By this point, one of the assistants showed up with a full 3D scan of the wounds. They were conical, made by a short, sharp object. They went about a quarter of an inch deep and had one flat side. They were spaced close to two inches apart.

"Those look like they were made by teeth." Grey said worriedly. Suddenly, they heard a loud crash and one of the assistants shouting. Grey rushed in to see the victim crouched on the floor, hissing and sputtering like a being possessed! They leapt at Grey and bit down on his arm before retreating back, hissing and screeching before spitting out blood. Grey looked at his arm to see two similar puncture wounds, which were burning! He grabbed the wound, gritting his teeth in pain, but the pain dissipated almost as soon as it came. He looked under his arm to see that the wound was already closing. Meanwhile, the victim was shuddering in a corner, wisps of smoke rising from the corners of their mouths. Grey took a step forward, causing the victim to open their mouth and hiss at him. He could see two fangs on it's top jaw.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" Grey exclaimed as it leapt at him again. He was ready for it this time. He swung a fist up into their gut before slamming his other fist down on their head, knocking them out cold.

Grey turned to Graham, who had seen everything.

"Of all the things we could possibly be dealing with right now, we have a flesh and blood vampire!? Of course it is! I don't even get to enjoy Halloween without some sort of monster running amok!" Grey ranted. He checked the wound and saw that it had indeed sealed up. He turned to see Graham handling the police.

Once she had finished the 'Monarch now has jurisdiction over this investigation' and 'this may not be disclosed until further notice' speeches, she met with Grey to figure out what to do about their blood sucking problem.

"Do you think it's one of theirs'?" Grey asked.

"My money is on no. The genetics don't match their methods or any technology that we know of. Plus, the micro-organisms are a completely different story."

Grey didn't feel like a massive lecture on how it differed from his new genetics, so he just nodded and made a point to avoid asking.

"Okay, so how do I catch a vampire? We can't have the thing running around, biting anyone it pleases. We've already seen that the bite is contagious, so the longer it's out there, the more problems it creates."

Graham looked ponderous for a moment.

"It seems that the historic depictions of them don't stop with the contagious bite. After all, you were just bitten and you aren't a vampire."

Grey suddenly realized that and promptly fought the urge to go slam his head through the wall. How did he not notice that?!

"Plus, it really hated your blood. It spat it out after a few seconds, plus there was the smoke coming from it's mouth."

After Graham mentioned that, he walked back to the unconscious body and opened its mouth. The two pointed fangs were there, but he could also see that the tongue, some spots along the side of the mouth, and a few other teeth were burned and corroded. There was a faint smell of burnt flesh. Grey resisted the urge to gag as he unceremoniously dropped the unconscious vampire on the ground and walked back to Graham.

"Yeah, definitely burned. So why did my blood do that?"

"Well, vampires burn in the sunlight, correct? Your blood and sunlight have a common element; ionizing radiation. The sun's ultra-violet radiation must be what burns them, so it stands to reason that gamma radiation would do the same, which your body has in abundance."

Grey nodded.

"Alright. So the radiation guns we collected from the attack and counterattack should help anyone who wants to go vampire hunting with me, and keeping my body stocked on gamma radiation will shield me from the vampire. Though that still doesn't explain why I didn't transform."

"Actually, it might. Either the gamma radiation in your blood burns out the micro-organisms that cause the change, or your mutated white blood cells utterly destroy it before it can infect any red blood cells. Or both."

Grey shrugged.

"Whatever works. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to get a few more hours of sleep before I go imitate Van Helsing."

Grey met his father outside the police station and the two went home. Grey didn't really sleep much that night. His adrenaline wouldn't allow for it. Graham had arranged for the vampire to be transferred to the same facility Grey had been staying at after he joined Monarch, where they would try to find a way to reverse the transformation. In the meantime, he would have hunting to do tomorrow.

 **Yeah, I decided to give Grey the roll of vampire-hunter! I wanted to use this as a way of showing off his new home life, as well as his circle of friends, since I didn't really talk about them during the first chapter.**

 **So, the next chapter we will have Grey doing battle with a vampire! Anyone else excited?!**

 **Creativity: I may not get to do the scary story I wanted, but at least I get a Halloween story with proper monsters in it!**

 **Author: No one has ever expressed any interest in your spooky stories… ever.**

 **Creativity: WELL I BET THAT IF THEY KNEW IT WAS A POSSIBILITY, THEY WOULD ASK!**

 **Author: … wow. Chill.**

 **See ya tomorrow… ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT! (Thunder in the background)**


	18. Halloween Special part 2

**And now we return to your regularly scheduled Halloween Special.**

…

 **There's no bit here. We were pressed for time on this one.**

 **/Post Completion Edit/**

 **Fair warning, this chapter has a 'slasher movie' moment to it and it is fairly descriptive. If you have an over-active imagination and/or have difficulty reading scenes of blood and gore (Aside from what we've already done) you may wish to skip this chapter. It is only during one area and there is build up to it. I won't be putting in warnings before it due to the fact that I feel it would break up the chapter unnecessarily.**

* * *

Grey had quickly decided that the worst part about hunting vampires wasn't the actual hunting. No, the worst part of it was convincing his family and friends to leave him alone while he investigated any potential hiding places for his fanged quarry. Graham had arranged for a small team to aid him in sweeping the town for the blood sucker, but that wouldn't be any help when they actually found it. The vampire that Grey had fought in the police station had been fast and strong, much stronger than an ordinary human. Grey knew that he could overpower that one with relative ease, but he doubted he would do that without taking a few hits. If this other vampire was anything like the one he'd KO'ed, it was going to be a tough fight. Especially if it had more room to maneuver. Plus, there was always the possibility that this vampire would be more powerful than the one in the police station.

Currently, Grey was in an area of town with a lot of run down and boarded up buildings. Graham had given him a miniature version of his headset's eyepiece, kind of like a monocle, which had heat vision, night vision, radiation tracking, and X-Ray as an added bonus. They had tested the functionality on the vampire Grey had beaten, thus allowing them to know what to look for. One thing that Grey had noted was that their body heat would stand out from the air around them. Even with the October chill, they were still cooler than the surrounding air. The X-Ray functionality would be helpful as well, though it could be difficult to discern the skeleton of a vampire from the rest of the building.

The radiation tracking was going to be more useful once he actually found the stupid thing. He couldn't walk around town with his gauntlets on, so he had a pistol version of the radiation guns in their place. It dismantled easily into three parts, which he kept in his pockets so as to not alarm anyone. He just had to hit the thing with one shot and he would be able to track it. If it didn't die instantly, that is.

Grey stopped at another building. It was a three-story building. The blinds were closed on all the upper levels and first floor windows were all boarded up. He did a quick check and found a few boards loose. There were scuffs on the aged bricks that were recent. He pulled the boards down and hopped inside. He slipped on the monocle and assembled the pistol before he switched to night vision. He could see that the dust on the floor had been disturbed, but not by feet. Almost as if the wind had pushed it. But why would the wind be pushing in a path leading upstairs?

He crept forward before leaping to the top of the stairs, rather than walk up them and cause a lot of creaking. When he reached the top, he followed the trail into one of the rooms. The walls were decrepit and collapsing. He looked up towards the ceiling and saw no vampire. But he could see the rotting, wooden beams that held up the third floor had large scratches and holes in them that were too sharp to have been made by age. The vampire had been here previously. It had been a few days since the incident at the police station, so it could have been last night or the night of it's arrival. Either way, they had a lead.

"I found a place where our blood sucker's been." Grey radioed to the team. He gave them the address and pulled out a map of the city. There were several X's on it, indicating where it hadn't been. He put a red circle around the building he had just searched and kept moving. After about five more minutes he received word of another location. He marked it down on his map. It wasn't too far from where he was and it was further from his house than the location he had just checked. He moved a block over to his next location. After investigating it, he found evidence to suggest that the vampire had been here, but not for very long. The dust was too disturbed and the gashes on the ceiling and floor didn't line up with the previous location. He called it in and looked for more evidence.

He suddenly wished he hadn't. He was searching a hallway when he came across a few drops of blood. They were leading towards a door that had lots of scratches on the frame. They weren't made by the vampire, who appeared to have some sort of talons based on the depth of the strikes. He opened the door and felt his stomach tie itself in a double bow knot. There was blood spattered all over the walls, as well as evidence of a struggle. There was some furniture there that seemed out of place. It was too new, sans the murder evidence. Probably some kids around his age had set up a hangout here.

Forcing himself to stay focused, he tracked the messy trail through a collapsed section of the wall. On the other side, he wretched before gaining control of his stomach. There was a mangled corpse lying eagle spread. There were numerous gashes all over the body, not counting sections that were missing entirely. He could see several of the internal organs, all of which appeared to have been pressed to a belt sander. The smell threatened to break his will to not upchuck. He looked away to see that the boards over one window had been smashed through in a hurry.

Grey called it in, allowing Graham to inform the police of the situation. He looked out the window, looking for any more signs of the vampire's path. He could see scratches on the walls, leading towards a back area. He followed them out until they reached open air. He rechecked the location of the building and marked it on the map. The bloodsucker seemed to be heading North. That wasn't particularly surprising. If vampires didn't need to worry about sub-zero temperatures like ordinary humans, then heading towards a place where the sunlight was going to be much more scarce for the duration of winter was a smart decision. And it didn't seem to be travelling very far. If vampires could fly, like this one seemed to as it left no footprints, then it was either travelling very slowly or deliberately taking its time. And Grey really doubted it was doing this leisurely.

So why was it travelling so slowly?

Then an idea hit Grey.

"Graham, have there been any disappearances reported in any of the areas where we have confirmation that the vampire has been in?"

There were a few minutes before Graham responded. There had been a few disappearances in that area. All Grey needed now was to find one of the missing people. If he could do that, then he would have all the evidence to back up his theory.

That issue was resolved much quicker than he thought. Word came in from one of the searchers that they found a pale body with two bite marks on their neck. They were sound asleep and appeared to have fangs poking out just under their lips. That all but confirmed it. The vampire had to get blood every night, thus meaning he had to stalk a target, drain them, then worry about making their way north.

"Start checking the buildings heading north! The pasty-faced Dracula wannabe is getting closer! Graham, can you get some more people down here to transport any more vampires we come across to Monarch?"

" _Consider it done."_

Grey signed off and left as quickly as possible. He had to do something about this situation before it got even more out of hand. Every night meant at least one more vampire made every night by the first one alone, to say nothing of the new ones that would then need to feed every night. At least they could get them quarantined before he found the original one. He couldn't keep looking for it like this. He had to take it down tonight.

And he knew exactly how to do it. If it needed to feed, then let it feed.

* * *

After explaining to his parents that he had to stay out late for 'his new job', he went down to the 'attack zone' in his ordinary civilian wear and casually strolled along. He had decided to forego his gauntlets again in favor of the pistol. They were just too bulky to not be noticed by a cross-species, or whatever this vampire really was.

He casually walked down the street, keeping himself calm, though his ears were pricked for any sound and his eyes were yellow and reptilian, taking in his surroundings with ease. He was completely alone. They had arranged for the area to be blocked off while he was luring out the vampire. It had taken some work, but it would be worth it. If the vampire had to feed every night, an isolated target would be too good to pass up.

He was whistling quietly to himself when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Resisting the urge to look, he turned and walked down one of the shadier streets. He kept whistling, but he tuned it out, listening for even the slightest change on the breeze. Then he heard a hissing noise. He whirled around to see the vampire hurtling towards him! He reached out and grabbed it before flinging it into the wall, then pulled out two parts to the pistol and slammed them together before reaching for the third. The vampire snarled at him and scrunched up, preparing to spring again. It was dressed in a ripped up black cloak and that was about it. Its skin was bone white, it's hair was as black and greasy as crude oil and its iris' were blood red. Its lips were purple and scarred where their fangs poked their bottom lip. Grey reared back his fist as the vampire lunged again, and socked it in the shoulder, causing it to careen into a dumpster. He slammed the last piece of the pistol into place and fired the first shot. It barely grazed the bloodsucker and it shrieked like a banshee! There was a blacked burn where it had been hit. He took aim again and fired, but the vampire dodged away and made a run for the rooftops! Grey leapt into the air and grabbed onto it, causing the vampire to start shrieking in surprise and anger. Grey snarled as the two of them hurtled through the air, the vampire thrashing to escape Grey's iron grip. However, the vampire did manage to dislodge the gamma pistol. That was going to make things much more complicated.

The vampire finally began to tire and crashed in a woodier area of town. Grey scrambled to his feet as he saw the vampire starting to take to the air again. However, it didn't try to escape. Instead, it looped around and dove straight at Grey! Grey snarled, showing pointed teeth as he reared back a fist. The vampire twisted as Grey threw his punch, tackling Grey to the ground and beginning to throttle him before its head shot forward like a viper, aiming for his neck! Grey jerked his head forward, moving his forehead into the pathway of the vampire's fangs. The resounding crack, along with the scratches on his forehead were the signs of success, and a future headache. The vampire recoiled from him, giving Grey the chance to deliver a radiation fueled punch to the gut. The vampire shrieked and looked at where the punch had connected. It was smoking.

The bloodsucker seemed to realize that it was outmatched and turned to flee. It leapt into the air, but its ascent leveled out and became a descent. Coupled with that, Grey had leapt into the air and was on his own descent that lead straight into the vampire's back. He seized the vampire by the shoulders and threw it into a tree before snapping off a thick, low-hanging branch from a nearby tree. As the vampire stumbled to its feet, it was greeted by the branch being swung like a baseball bat straight to it's head. The blow sent the vampire spinning and even sent one of its fangs hurtling out of it's jaw and imbedding itself in a tree. The vampire sputtered and hissed before it realized that it was missing a fang and cried out in shock. It then turned to Grey with a murderous gleam in it's eyes. A new fang grew into place and the vampire charged Grey again, who charged to meet it, swinging the branch in an uppercut, which caused it to smash into splinters.

Grey tossed the useless piece of wood aside before reaching out and grabbing the vampire by the throat. He then grabbed its face with his other hand and forced it to look him in the eye. He let out a snarl that reverberated through the trees, showing off his sharp teeth and his reptilian eyes before his blood vessels began to glow blue. The vampire began shrieking as it's body began to smoke and crumble to ash. Grey forced it to keep looking at him before it crumbled from his fingers. All that was left was a tiny pile of ash. Grey cut off the gamma charge and started walking out of the forest. Finally, he could actually enjoy Halloween. They still had to deal with the other vampires, but at least they had them secured. Now, he could rest and…

Grey collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by exhaustion.

* * *

"Man, this could have been a whole lot worse!"

"That vampire bit four people and was turned to dust by a kid! How could it be worse!?"

"At least we don't have to capture it anymore…"

"Shut up and get to work! Nothing between worlds, they can't have any evidence of this!"

"This is gonna be a toughie isn't it."

"No shit. And you're doing the Griffin's share since you're the one who left the portal unguarded."

"But…"

"No buts! Get to work! I want the infected natives de-vampirized first!"

* * *

Grey's eyelids cracked open. His alarm clock was ringing. He shut it off and got out of bed before going to take a shower. He went downstairs where Sam and Mark were buzzing in their seats. It was Halloween and they were both eager to get into their costumes and going door to door. Grey had his ripped-up shirt in his room, ready for the night.

"Does anyone remember what happened a few days ago? I just recall having difficulty sleeping." Grey asked sleepily.

"Not really." Mark said chipperly.

"I guess there just wasn't anything interesting going on that day." Sam added with a shrug. Grey didn't feel like talking more, so he just had his breakfast before going to his workshop. He spent a little while tinkering before he and his friends met up for a walk. They were strolling through one of the woodier parts of their neighbourhood when Grey saw something peculiar stuck in one of the trees. It looked like a tooth. He looked it over a few times before slipping it in his pocket. Might be a cool nick knack to hang on to.

Soon came the time to go out from door to door. Grey went into his room and had patches of his skin turn into green-gray scales before throwing his ripped-up shirt on. He also had his teeth turn sharp and his eyes turn reptilian. He came downstairs to find Mark and Sam in their respective costumes. He smiled at them, glad that they didn't flinch at his teeth. They went out and joined the rest of the neighbourhood going door to door. By the end of the night, they had two full pillowcases of candy each. Grey saw his friends and waved hello to them. They hurried over and were very surprised and impressed by his 'costume'. When the secret came out, he was going to derive no end of amusement from teasing them about it. Jessica seemed a bit put out by his take on the human-turning-reptile outfit, but didn't say anything. They all walked back to his place where they watched a vampire movie and ate the candy that hadn't been handed out. It was close to eleven when they finally decided to call it and meet the next day. After seeing his friends out the door, Grey went upstairs and got ready for bed. He put the animal tooth in a box he kept on his dresser and crawled into bed.

* * *

"Did we get everything?"

"I triple checked and ran scans of the hot spots. We got it all."

"Good. Because if there's still any evidence out there, we are so monumentally dead."

* * *

 **And that concludes our Halloween special! I hope everyone enjoyed!**

 **Creativity: Man, that got really dark at that one point.**

 **Author: It's Halloween. And besides, we had to do something to hold attention since Grey is superhuman AND vampire proof.**

 **Also, I didn't clarify this before but some of the stuff I included in the story should tell you that the vampire in question wasn't from the world this story takes place in. That's also why it couldn't fly after it was exposed to Grey for so long. Ultra-violet is deadly to them, while Gamma radiation actually takes away their powers through prolonged exposure. Also why the vampire had to feed every night in this world. Different world, different rules. Kinda like gravity.**

 **Creativity: You couldn't have stuck this in elsewhere?**

 **Author: It would have disrupted the flow of the chapter. (Thunder in the distance)**

 **Creativity: How do you keep doing that?**

 **Author: What? This? (Louder thunder, mixed with lightning)**

 **Creativity: Wait… There's a button for that isn't there…**

 **Author: And on that note… HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**


	19. Another Day, Another Dollar

**I'M BAAAACK! AND I'M BETTER THAN EVER!**

 _Ten months since the second San Francisco Incident…_

Grey was reclining in the back of a private jet. He, Graham, and one of Graham's aides were flying to Belgium to perform a follow-up for one of the cross-species that had been able to return home. Grey was still absorbing that this was his actual, paid career now. Despite how well adjusted to his genetic changes and the lifestyle they brought with them, he was still rather bemused by some of the more "mundane" things, such as his aforementioned new job.

The new building that Monarch had started developing ten months ago had evolved into a hub for a new Organization that operated as an offshoot of Monarch. The facility had been developed for cross-species research and aid, but as time wore on and the reality that the shadowy organization the birthed this whole crazy situation was still out there began to set in, it became an inescapable conclusion that they would need more autonomy and a more generous budget. So, Monarch filed to have the new division become a secondary organization: The International Cross-Species Aid and Research Organization. Grey wasn't fond of the acronym, but that wasn't his department. They'd be going public in a few days, as well as giving details about the existence of cross-species. He wasn't looking forward to it. Rather, he wasn't fond of how they were going about it.

Apparently, someone who fancied himself a PR genius figured it would be a good idea to use him as some sort of mascot or the "face" of the new organization. Needless to say, Grey wasn't going to let that fly if he could help it. He'd be going public as a cross-species, but that's as far as he would allow it to go. And he was going to make absolutely sure that this PR nutter knew it.

Grey was shaken out of his thoughts when the pilot informed them that they were about to land. He stretched and fastened his seatbelt as he felt his ears pop from the change in air pressure. Five minutes later, he felt the plane jostle as it touched the ground. The taxied to the airport and disembarked. Grey stepped out of the plane, covering his eyes as he slipped on a pair of shades. He was dressed in a gray hoodie with an electric blue zipper. It was decorated with a tattered orange silhouette of a monster's head from the side on the left. Underneath the hoodie, he was wearing a blue shirt with a black nuclear hazard symbol splashed on it asymmetrically. He also wore dark blue jeans and black running shoes.

Something unique about the whole set was that they had been custom designed to withstand high amounts of thermonuclear energy, exactly what Grey produced in combat. In addition to this, hoodie was actually bulletproof as well, just to be careful.

They immediately made their way through the airport to the car that Monarch had arranged for them. The three of them got in and the driver immediately began driving to the hotel that Monarch had arranged for as well.

"So, we go see the kid tomorrow, do the assessment and provide the kit as required, then offer them the invite for when the facility officially opens?" Grey asked, making sure he had the plan straight. Graham nodded.

"The assessment itself won't take as long as before, so we can spend any spare time going through genetic records to try and find anyone with the genetic potential to become a cross-species." Graham answered.

They arrived at the hotel twenty minutes later and got settled into their rooms. Grey immediately pulled out his new Monarch issue laptop and pulled up a file of all known cross-species, including himself. There was only one cross-species from Belgium that ended up making it home. There had been three in total, but two of them died when they had been pumped full of chemicals.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he did a quick review of the known blood relatives of the cross-species they were assessing tomorrow. Since they didn't have the man or computing power to assess every single human blood sample on Earth, Grey had taken up tracing the ancestry of the cross-species he visited. He'd go back a few generations and then follow other branches to help narrow down the list of people to test. Graham wasn't sure how far back the gene dated, but she suspected that it started showing up in the early 2000s, based on what little data they had from the destroyed base. He worked on that for a while before the jetlag finally caught up with him and he crashed on the bed before being woken up by his phone ringing. He picked it up and answered the call.

" _Are you planning to have anything to eat tonight?"_ He heard Graham ask him on the other end. He looked at the time and then heard his stomach growling.

"They have room service?" He asked tiredly before stretching.

" _Yes, I believe that our accommodations include room service."_ Graham answered. Grey heard her yawn on her end.

"Alright. I'll just order something then. After that, I'm going back to bed."

Grey grabbed the hotel landline and ordered some food before opening his laptop again to check on how the final touches to the new facility were going.

Currently, they were just finishing installing the general equipment and furnishings so that some employees, but primarily the cross-species could live there full time if need be. They had put in the general use equipment as well and were going to start installing the more specialized equipment in a few days. He suspected the facility would be formally opened in a week or so. In the meantime, he would be working out of hotels and a bit on the plane. It was weird to have a well-paying career as both a minor and a high school dropout, but the novelty of it was heavily cut when held up against the lunacy that started it all.

After about twenty minutes the food arrived, breaking him out of his thoughts. He ate by myself before he set the alarm on his phone and collapsed on the bed, snoring in seconds.

* * *

Rothstein strode through the installation he had most recently been assigned to. He was heading to the genetics lab. The previous installation had been larger and more advanced, but it was built for genetics over everything else, even sacrificing security for the advancement of science. Something he had ignored before, but now found thoroughly disconcerting. Ultimately, they had failed due to a combination of ill planning and Yorburg's mad pride and unrestricted rage.

Oh well. That problem was disposed of, though it was a shame that they lost most of Yorburg's research. Yorburg zealously guarded his research, only making practical application of certain points of it known. Rothstein suspected that he had done it to ensure that he was kept useful. If he took his secrets to the grave, then they would be left with trying to recreate his method, which took more time than could be practical. Unfortunately, that meant they were back to square one. Well, almost.

Rothstein had managed to extract some data from Yorburg's personal server before he put him down. It was in the process of being wiped, but he got enough to fill in the blanks. It would just take time.

Besides, Yorburg hadn't been the only one working on that research. He was merely the first one to find the most general method with a high success rate, though the idea of success varied between individuals. Currently, every base was working on developing a method. They had at least one per country, though the ones with more territory usually had at least one more. The construction of all these facilities had been difficult, but worth it. They had eyes and ears everywhere, easy access to plenty of test subjects, human or otherwise, and had could expand the facilities with a little bit of specialized mining. The procedural construction machines they had designed ten years ago were something that Rothstein held a lot of pride in, even if he hadn't built them. They were a product of the Collective's scientific prowess.

Rothstein snapped out of his musings when he realized he had reached the genetics lab. He strode in and shook hands with a couple of the workers before moving to see the leading team. They were currently attempting genetic splicing via specially designed viruses. It was the most promising program they had right now, since Yorburg's was still in the process of being reassembled. However, it was a more tedious and hands-on approach compared to the mutative serum. It required constant monitoring while the virus was within a host and could fail for more reasons, chiefly the body beating the virus or the virus killing the body. They needed to tweak the virus for each individual subject though they were working to overcome that with a machine that could do that for them by reconfiguring certain links based on different DNA that the machine was provided with.

One of the benefits to this program was that it was superior in terms of potential test subjects. They weren't limited to human testing with a specific and unpredictable gene. Now they could test with all animals. Currently, they were trying to splice reptile DNA with human DNA, a sort of inversion of the original test.

"Any progress?" Rothstein inquired. The lead scientist, a man by the name of Johann, ushered Rothstein to a room with lots of reptile cages.

"We did some more experiments with other types of DNA and the results are quite interesting."

Rothstein had to agree. These were more proof of concept than they were practical application, though it was a good show.

Within the terrariums were several common reptiles to the area. Specifically, a coachwhip snake, collared lizard, several species of gecko and horned lizard, and a Gila monster.

"What exactly did you splice into them?"

"We inserted human DNA into most of the geckos and horned lizards, though we did put some scorpion DNA into one of the horned lizards and some cactus wren DNA into a couple of the geckos. The Gila monster was injected with Tarantula Hawk DNA. The coachwhip was given coyote DNA and the Collared lizard was injected with tarantula DNA."

"The Gila monster seems a bit overkill, but an interesting concept. When do you think you'll be able to call for specific mutations, such as wings or stingers? I'm not worried about side effects. With what we're dealing in, they're practically a guarantee." Rothstein asked.

"At the pace we're going, I would suspect we'll be ready for a proper human trial in two weeks or so. In the meantime, we'll keep experimenting with the local wildlife to isolate specific traits."

Rothstein nodded and walked out. He went back to his quarters and begin writing up a report. He kept a recording device on him at all times, disguised as a watch. It was much easier than having to take notes during every meeting and he didn't completely trust someone to do it for him. He worked on the report for a while before getting a notification. He checked it and grinned. Things were starting to come together again.

* * *

Grey stood back as Graham finished the checkup before she walked back and went over the results.

"Well, I would say a stronger level of radiation supplement is a must as well as something to help with the irritation you've been having. We encountered a similar problem already and have a solution coming."

The cross-species in question that they were doing the follow-up for had several patches of insectoid carapace on his torso and shoulders. Apparently, the area where the carapace joined normal skin was getting irritated. Like Graham had said, they had encountered the problem before and were working on a fix for it. Grey could sympathize. He itched like crazy when he was switching back and forth between skin and scales. Afterwards, he explained how they were finishing construction of the new Monarch branch headquarters and that they were welcome to come if they wanted to.

There were already a few cross-species there. A few of them had been orphans or otherwise had nowhere else to go, while some had simply taken Grey up on the offer. Grey was getting well acquainted with them and a few of the stronger ones had been aiding in the construction. He was looking forward to getting back. He was getting rather tired of all this travel. It would die down as they got more qualified and trained staff for this, plus the other cross-species getting more adaptation to their new lives to act as representatives as he did.

The boy declined the offer for the moment, but asked if he could go back on it if he changed his mind in the future. After telling him yes, Grey and Graham went back to the hotel to gather their belongings and get on the jet. The ride back to the airport was smooth and they were on the plane with time to spare.

The ride back was uneventful and Grey caught up on some sleep during the flight. When they landed, they immediately drove to the new building. It was extremely large and had expansive windows. It was twelve floors with the ground floor and the floor above having enough ceiling height to fit in two more floors. The front entrance had a nice reception area with a fountain in the center and a seating area with comfortable leather couches. The top four floors housed good-sized dorms for the cross-species or other guests to use, while the remaining floors housed laboratories and containment cells for unstable cross-species. The rest of the ground floor housed two swimming pools and gym from a health nut's wildest dreams. Sadly, Grey's hopes for a hot tub and/or sauna didn't make the final cut. Still, they did have an outdoor pool in addition to the two inside, as well as easy access to a beach. Grey only hoped he had more time to make use of the amenities with his currently busy schedule.

The first thing Grey did when he got back to his new home was take a hot shower before throwing on some more comfortable clothes and going to see the cross-species that were staying at the facility.

Currently, there were two insectoid cross-species, three burrowers and one other Godzilla cross-species. The two insectoids were named Darcie and Jack. Darcie was from Minnesota and had a very calm, though mildly shy personality. She had medium length brown hair, blue eyes and was of medium build. In slight contrast to her usual calm, a side effect of the mutation made her very fidgety.

Jack was from Chicago and had a more extroverted personality. He was a few inches taller than Grey, though he was rather thin, had green eyes and short blond hair. Grey always felt a little uncomfortable around him since he had been one of the cross-species that Grey actually used his claws on, leaving a good-sized scar on Jack's back. Jack didn't mind though. In fact, he liked joking about how it made him appear more formidable and he could always say that it was caused during a fight with a wild animal, which Grey had to resist snorting about. Even if he was a cross-species and had that scar, Jack was hardly the most intimidating person he had ever met.

Next came the burrowers. Their names were Laura, Ben and Zack. Laura was from France and preferred to air her grievances in her native language since no one ever really understood what she was saying. Only that it was not friendly. Other than that, she was fairly good at English, if occasionally shaky on one or two words. She and Ben also could turn their hands back to normal, though it required more concentration than Grey to keep them that way. She had shoulder length blond hair and was a little shorter than Darcie.

Ben was from Alaska and was the opposite of Jack, in that he was short and very stocky. He was very relaxed but also easily distracted. He preferred having his hands be in their mutated form, though he turned back when he was eating. He had very dark, shoulder length hair and brown eyes.

Zack was from the Chicago as well and was about Grey's height, though maybe a bit taller. He had brown hair and eyes and had a bit of an arrogant personality. He wasn't insufferable, but he could get annoying if one was playing a video game against him and he won. He was a somewhat graceful loser, but a very unpleasant winner.

Finally, there was the other Godzilla cross-species. Her name was Sabrina and she came from Brazil. She had a very strange mutation that turned the thermonuclear blasts she fired from gauntlets to be purple, instead of the usual blue. She was easily the smartest of the whole group and easily the most well adjusted, aside from Grey. Apparently, she also knew some mixed martial arts. She had black hair, blue eyes and was half an inch taller than Grey.

Grey greeted the group and they all went to the cafeteria to get dinner. They all sat together and Grey told them a bit about the trip. It wasn't terribly eventful, so they started talking about the upcoming announcement of cross-species being a thing. The United Nations had been informed about the existence of cross-species about eight months ago and countries were still trying to figure out how to handle this bombshell that had been dropped on them. Grey just hoped it wouldn't go as sour as he worried it could. He may have been at his house for a while with his changes, but there was still an underlying feeling of… attention for lack of a better word. He felt like he was constantly being looked at out of the corner of eyes. It was almost a little strange that he felt more normal at his new job than he did at home. Though, that could be chalked up to him being around people in the same situation he was in.

After they finished chatting, they all went back to their rooms for the night. Grey crashed almost as soon as he hit the mattress. He had some down time the next few days, and he was going to be certain that he spent it well.

 **I'd say that's a solid returning chapter. Not too dialogue heavy, plus pointing to what the baddies are up to now. And I dropped a couple of hints as to where the base that Rothstein is at is located. I can't wait to see if people figure it out. Not that it's that obscure or anything.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, we got work to do still, rebuilding our backlog, but this is a good start!**

 **Author: See ya next week!**

 **Post completion:**

 **At the time I am writing this, I have only completed two chapters in the backlog. I will have at least five done by the time I start uploading again, but it is slow going. Also, I didn't put this in earlier, but the reason I took such a long break was so that I wouldn't burn out and abandon ship for two years again. I might have said that in the last chapter, but I think it bears repeating. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for bearing with me through the break. This story is going to be at least 100k and at an average of 3k words per chapter, that will take a about 34 chapters to finish. Now, I have done some extra long chapters and will continue to do so, so it may be less, but I still want to have at least 30 chapters in this story. I've broken it up into pods on a theme, so take guesses to see what the theme of these pods are!**

 **Okay, that's it. See ya next week!**


	20. Lazy days and Scientific Gardening?

**Welcome back, everyone! So, as I am writing this, this story stands at probably my fasted growing story to date, in terms of views and reviews. I'd chalk it up to being a remake of one of my original stories, though this one has gotten more fleshed out, and having completed one story to this prior, giving me a bit more experience. Just wanted to say thank you.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, if this keeps up, we'll qualify for the bonus!**

 **Author: Don't go counting the chickens yet. Let's focus on getting the backlog finished.**

 **Here's chapter 18.**

Today was a truly wonderful day. Grey had absolutely no work that needed to be done and he was spending it on the beach, lying on the sand and soaking up the sun. The reptile in him demanded it. He'd gotten a few jokes at his expense about reptiles or the sun when people found out what he planned to spend the first few hours of his day doing. That didn't deter him. It was warm and sunny out and he was going to soak up as much ultraviolet rays as he could.

He had already been out there for about and hour and a half, when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

"What?" He answered, trying unsuccessfully to mask his mild irritation.

" _Sam found something strange on satellite observation. Oh, and good morning to you too."_ Graham informed him.

Groaning as he got up from his very comfortable spot on the beach, he made his way back to the facility before heading to the satellite observation center. He walked over to where Graham was, next to Sam. Sam was responsible for checking a one of several satellites that Monarch had launched ten years ago to help in tracking Kaiju when they were surfacing and returning to wherever they came from, be it Godzilla from the ocean, or the burrower from a fissure, or any number of possible entry/exit points.

"What have you got, Doc?" Grey asked as he rolled his shoulder. It was still a little stiff from lying on the beach for so long.

"It's not much, but we did manage to catch a remote-operated quad copter on satellite camera. It was cruising around the Sonoran Desert." Sam reported.

"Any clue what it's doing there?" Grey asked. Sam just shook his head.

"Not really. It wasn't on camera long enough to chart a possible course. If there is a base there, it could be anywhere. The Sonoran Desert isn't exactly small. We'd be basically searching an entire state." Sam replied. Grey rubbed his temples.

"And that's assuming that the base that bugger came from is even in the Sonoran. Alright, I'm off the beach. Is there anything else I need to do or hear before I go relax more?" Grey asked.

"Not right now. Though it would be a good idea to call ahead for our next visit. Speaking of which, have you checked in with Barry, Simon or Riya recently?" Graham asked, referring to Click by her real name.

"Not recently, no. I was planning to give Click and Simon a call this evening, though I guess I could see how Barry's doing. I'll give him a ring." Grey decided. He strode out and gave Barry a call. Barry lived pretty close to a few other Cross-Species and they had all formed a sort of support group. It was more like a club from the sound of it, but it let people stuck in similar circumstances take a break from keeping up appearances. Grey was grateful he lived in an environment where he didn't have to worry about that, but he still had to worry about it when he went to visit his family. Sure, he didn't have to worry about them, but the rest of the neighbourhood was a different story.

Grey ended up following through on the thought to call Barry. They chatted for a few minutes before Grey decided to go watch some TV. He switched back and forth between a few channels, watching some really old reruns as well as an old movie before deciding to walk around the facility a bit. He hadn't properly explored it yet, what with all the traveling and work that required him to be at his laptop. Most of the paperwork was handled by Graham and a couple other key figures in this branch organization, but he had a few things he had to handle. Still, most of his deskwork was checking in with other cross-species or their families. Occasionally he had to speak with lawyers or some other representative, but he was mostly kept to other cross-species.

Leaving his room, he started to explore floor by floor. He hadn't seen floors four to six yet, so he started at floor six and worked his way down. Floor six was primarily research on how the three known types of cross-species were able to convert some of the food they consumed into ionizing radiation. They had managed to acquire some tissue samples when they had been forced to operate on a cross-species that had experienced a pretty bad withdrawal from chemicals they were pumped full of while kidnapped. Grey had been stepping in to keep it from hurting itself when it managed to escape and attacked a technician, who dropped their walkie talkie. Which the cross-species then proceeded to eat. Grey knocked out the poor soul and they immediately operated to get the device out before digesting it caused irreparable damage.

After that little episode, they put the tissue samples in storage until the facility was built enough to begin some proper study. Grey hadn't really looked into it too much, but from what he could recall, there was some sort of enzyme in his stomach that could perform actions similar to that of a fission reactor, though it produced less radiation and what radiation it did produce was quickly absorbed by his body. Needless to say, there was much he hadn't read too much further, but the rest of facility's scientific faculty were eager to replicate it. Grey somewhat understood the reasoning, but he wouldn't be providing samples if he could help it.

Once he was done exploring that floor, he descended to floor five. This floor put the D in R&D. This was wear all the toys were made. Upgrades to Grey's gauntlets as well as new gear for the new cross-species, new headsets and gamma weaponry. The weaponry was being developed for combating the terrorist organization that had started all this lunacy, though there were some elements within Monarch that weren't happy with this turn of events, just as there were those who thought it would be a good idea to sell these to the military. That was a conversation that would be all sorts of fun.

Opting to not spend too much time on this floor, Grey went down to the fourth, where the primary focus of study was on the mutative process that created cross-species. Grey didn't spend to much time here either. It was best not to dwell on those events, even if things had turned out well in the end.

After his personal tour of the facility, he went back to his room for a nap. Considering how much work would be on his plate in two days, he wanted to enjoy sleep while he could.

* * *

 _Two days later._

 _Secret Base._

Rothstein marched his way into the second wing of the genetics lab. There were two wings for dividing study and experimentation between flora and fauna. He had already done several checks for the fauna wing, but he hadn't been able to inspect the flora wing yet. He stepped in and took in his surroundings. The entire room was filled with plants. All in controlled environments of course, but still plants. There were Venus flytraps, thorn bushes, roses, small trees of many varieties, a few dandelions, thistles, various species of cacti, several exotic species of flower, and many more. He went over to a scientist who was operating a machine that was connected to a tangle of vines with a few probes.

"What is the experiment here?" Rothstein inquired.

"We spliced Venus flytrap DNA into it while it was still a seed. Preliminary scans indicate that when leaves start to grow, they will be the signature traps." The scientist reported.

"Is there any study into flora-fauna DNA splicing being performed?" Rothstein asked.

"Further back, yes. There's been more success in splicing Flora DNA into fauna that there has vice versa." The scientist answered.

Rothstein walked to the back, where the experiments he inquired about where taking place. They were currently testing with mice and geckos as fauna, while inserting more dangerous flora DNA into them. There was some less dangerous DNA in the mix as well, but it was primarily poisonous, carnivorous or thorny plants that were being used.

"Do you have any more… interesting specimens?" Rothstein asked.

"Well, the Directors did order us splice Godzilla's DNA with that of a plant of our choosing. We spliced a rose with the DNA and so far, there hasn't been much change. It does require more solar energy to survive than other roses, but we haven't seen any other change from there. Could be that there hasn't been a proper trigger, maybe the DNA didn't bind well to the rose's, we're not sure."

Rothstein looked ponderous for a moment.

"Well, despite how disastrously the attack ended, the human-Godzilla hybrids turned out rather well. Of course, that's including the blank gene for us to recode, but theoretically it could work…" Rothstein mused aloud. The scientist seemed concerned.

"Sir, we aren't sanctioned for human trials yet. And besides, how would we get test subjects? Every subject that was acquired, mutated or not, is under constant surveillance and the one's we didn't acquire will soon be located and placed under watch." The scientist replied. Rothstein didn't seem bothered.

"Oh, it was just a flight of fancy. However, the Genetic Architect program going on in our eastern contingent could bring it closer than we thought… I'll have to make some calls…" Rothstein muttered as he started walking away. The scientist seemed a little confused about how Rothstein responded to the scientist's reply and started to talk to him but then slipped into talking to himself.

Meanwhile, Rothstein was already planning out how to proceed with the experiment. All he needed was an operational Genetic Architect machine and everything would line up. Of course, that technology was incredibly advanced, even for this collective. It would take several favours he was owed and owing a few afterwards, but he was confident he could get it. Then their experiments would become much more interesting.

* * *

Grey had decided that it was a mistake to volunteer to come here. He could feel a dozen pairs of eyes boring into his back at any given moment, his clothes were uncomfortable and he couldn't find Graham or Monarch's acting director, who he had accompanied here. Here was the United Nations headquarters. The UN was about to go public with the existence of cross-species, though those who wished to remain anonymous were given that right. There weren't many who opted to have their names made public, but a couple of them had.

Currently, they were waiting for the last few people to arrive before the announcement began. Grey spoke with a few people and politely declined to show his abilities before it was time for him to do so. Soon, all the dignitaries and journalists had arrived and introduced themselves and the cameras were rolling. Monarch's Director stood up at the podium and began the announcement.

"People of the world, almost a year ago America was attacked by a still unnamed terrorist organization. This organization wielded weapons and technology unlike anything ever seen and even had a mechanical replica of the King of Monsters at their side, though it was destroyed by the original shortly after it's appearance. However, this organization had already begun its attack long before they emerged from the ocean. Months prior to the first attack, people began to vanish all over the world, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or allegiances. These disappearances were in fact, kidnappings. I imagine that this isn't news to anyone and that it also isn't news that not all of them survived the ordeal. However, what many of you don't know is what they were kidnapped for."

The director paused as the journalists started murmuring and one approached with a question, only to be waved off.

"Please hold all questions until the end, thank you. As I was saying, these people were all kidnapped by these terrorists for the purpose of experimentation. The majority of those who were kidnapped in the months leading up to the first strike were ripped from their homes to be used as test subjects for an experiment in genetic splicing. Their DNA was combined with that of the three creatures who have razed our lands in 2014 and last year. Many of these poor souls were then forced to take part in the attack, but were defeated by one of their own, who escaped the facility after the first trials. He spent some time on the run, but eventually crossed paths with Monarch, who he explained the situation to and sought refuge with. Without his aid, the attack would have ended very differently. Today, we came here to reveal these events, as justice to those who suffered at these terrorist's hands and to announce a new branch organization from Monarch. This organization is devoted to the study of cross-species, aiding them with their new lives, and helping us prevent this fate from befalling others."

Immediately there was an uproar, followed by questions.

"Do you honestly expect us to believe this?" Did you bring any of these cross-species with you today?" "Can this process be reversed?" "Could future kidnappings be related to this incident?"

The director held up his hand and gestured to one of the reporters.

"You first."

"Are there any cross-species here today?" The reporter asked. That was Grey's cue. He stood up and walked up to the podium before turning down to his left elbow reptilian. There was an immediate following of gasps, clicks and flashes from cameras, and more questions. The Director chose another journalist.

"Is there any way to reverse this process?"

"Unfortunately, no. Not yet anyway. There are a few cases where we have been able to mitigate some of the more external results of the splicing, but those were cases of being in the right place at the right time. However, as Grey here has demonstrated, it is quite possible to adjust back into normal life and hide some of the more external features, though he is a more unique case. Not all of these individuals can 'turn it off' as he and a few others can."

There were more questions, though they were less skeptical now.

"Could any of these cross-species be a potential threat to society?"

"As much as anyone could be." The Director replied with a bit of a clipped tone. That earned a few points in Grey's book.

The questions went on for a few more minutes before they called it and went back to the facility, where Grey felt a wave of relief and exhaustion wash over him. That was way more stressful than fighting that small army of cross-species almost a year ago!

After changing into something more comfortable, Grey went to a lounge area, where Zack and Sabrina were relaxing. He hung out with them for a while before they all went to the cafeteria for dinner. After picking up their meals, they sat down at one of the larger tables and waited until the rest of the resident cross species joined them. They talked for a while before Grey turned in early. He was still worn out from the trip to the UN and he was ready to collapse. It felt like every day was a drain, nowadays.

* * *

The next morning, he went to the pool for a morning swim before checking in with Graham what was on today's schedule. As it turned out, he would be working entirely inside the facility for the next few days, since the facility was currently under siege by the media. Ford was leading security forces to keep people out, but they'd had a couple of people attempt to sneak inside. They never got very far, since the security systems monitored for special badges issued to employees or, in the cross-species case, low levels of ionizing radiation.

Speaking of, Grey saw two people down the hallway who were very out of place. They were in branch hallway, looking around with amazement. One of them had a video camera with them while the other was jotting down notes on a notepad. Grey rolled his eyes and walked by, pretending that he hadn't seen them. He pulled out his phone and texted Ford that he had found two uninvited guests and quickly turned to snatch the notepad and camera away.

"Hey! What's the…" The reporter started before she saw Grey standing there, his face clearly portraying a lack of amusement. He handed the camera to a passerby, telling them to take it to security before pocketing the notebook and grabbing them by the collars of their shirts when they tried to bolt.

"You're lucky I didn't throw you out. Oh, and I mean the throwing part literally." Grey grumbled. Ford arrived a little later and slapped cuffs on them before taking them to the security center. Grey dusted his hands off and went to see Graham, who was assessing blood samples they had taken from all known cross-species to see if there was any possibility of future mutation.

"Hey, doc. How're the tests going?" Grey asked as he strode into the lab. Graham didn't even turn around.

"So far, there doesn't seem like there's any possible mutation left, though that's just with the current batch of mutagen you were exposed to. They could cook up something else that could continue the mutation or react with the original. Right now though, there doesn't seem like there's anything to worry about. But I still need to get through the rest of the samples, so don't quote me on anything yet."

Grey shrugged an left. He went about some video calls with other cross-species and their families, communicated with some government officials from around the globe (He really hated that one) and checked in with Sam to see if there was any news on from the Sonoran Desert. Sam reported no sightings, leaving Grey with time to kill. He had some more vacation time coming up and he planned to spend it at home. He suspected that his friends would be waiting to ambush him at the airport, but there was nothing to be done. So, he decided to spend the extra time preparing himself for the chewing out he was going to get for not telling his friends that he had been turned into a part human, part radioactive reptile for almost a year. May Godzilla have mercy on his soul.

 **So, there's a single centralized theme to this pod. How long it runs is currently up in the air, but regardless. CORRECT GUESSES GET COOKIES.**

 **Heheh… website jokes.**

 **See ya next week!**


	21. Interrogation

**Hello everyone! As of this writing, I have finally managed to get my filthy mitts on a Nintendo Switch! I know, I'm at least nine months late to the party, but whatever! ITS AWESOME! So, kudos to everyone who got the pod guess right!**

 **Creativity: it's not like it was that hard to guess…**

 **Author: Cork it. So, this pod I'm expanding the definition of cross-species beyond human/X to any and all organisms crossed with another organism. As you can also guess, this is not restricted to just animals. Plants aren't safe either. Also, yes, it's fairly obvious what the rose is in reference to, but that monster is too good to pass up, especially in a story that's all about throwing different DNA into a blender and creating a smoothie of different organisms. Also, I saw Star Wars episode 9 in theatres yesterday (As of this writing) and I thought that IT WAS AWESOME! There will be no discussion of spoilers in this chapter, nor for the next three at least. Also, please keep potential spoilers to yourself, thank you very much. At least until four weeks have passed. Then this review section is free game for spoilers.**

 **Creativity: This is in keeping with Amendment 3 of the studio operation accord: Spoilers of a given work, be it written, theatrical or of electro-video input (Fancy name for video games) are prohibited for one month as of official release.**

 **Author: Thank you.**

 **Now then, please enjoy chapter 19!**

* * *

Grey was thankful he had managed to get some sleep on the flight back home. He was certain that there was going to very little time to rest for the next while. He knew that the moment he went public as a cross-species, his friends would be expecting answers. He also expected to be greeted by them at the airport or in front of his house. Or ambushed. He was strongly leaning towards ambush.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when the plane touched down and jostled him awake. He grabbed his backpack and disembarked, heading to grab his luggage from the carousel in the ground floor of the airport. He had two packs with him. The first contained souvenirs for Sam and Mark as well as his friends, while the other contained his gauntlets and headset, radiation supplement, a spare bracelet to keep his radiation emission in check, and any other Monarch gear he might need.

He walked away from the luggage pickup and into the main atrium of the airport, which wasn't as busy as he had anticipated. Though now that he thought about it, it wasn't exactly travelling season. There wouldn't be a large influx of travellers leaving for or coming back from vacation. Still, it seemed quieter than it should have been.

Just as he was finishing his thought, his phone rang.

"Graham, I just picked up my luggage. Please tell me this isn't an international emergency." Grey answered with some annoyance and genuine pleading in his voice.

" _I was informed by someone that frequents the 'current events' of high profile people, which I may remind you that you are now on, and it turns out that people know when you took off and that you just landed. More specifically, the media knows you just landed."_

Grey suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that the shortage of people in the airport was no accident. News outlets from all over the province and probably from a few neighbouring ones would be converging on the airport the moment they knew where he was going, thus congesting traffic. Honestly, he was more surprised that no reporters had pursued them from Monarch. Though to be fair, he had left through the garage, so know there wouldn't have been time for news sources to begin a man hunt.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of screeching tires and doors slamming. He could feel the ground shaking as footsteps thundered towards him. Every fibre of his being told him to make for the nearest exit as fast as he could. Unfortunately, the only exits were straight towards the wall of journalists who wanted to play 20000 questions. That left only one exit. The parkade.

He hurried there as fast as he could without drawing the attention of the other travelers until he got through the door. He could see the parkade on the other side of the main entrance. That was where his car was parked. He just needed to get there before the journalists found him. He laid out his options.

One, put his hood up and walk there, hoping that no one noticed him.

Two, run to his car and drive out of there at exactly the speed limit, hoping that he didn't accidentally hit any journalists.

Three, he could climb to the top of the parkade and leap the gap between the two, hope that no one noticed him performing that amazing feat and drive away.

He decided to go with option number three. Making his way to the back of the parkade and then climbing up (The stairs were in plain view of the journalists) to the top floor, he checked to see if anyone was looking. Luckily, they were all still wrestling to get inside the airport first. But why were they all still stuck outside?

Grey gave Graham a ring and she told him that someone higher up at Monarch had called ahead to the airport and told them to lock the doors, blame it on a mechanical glitch and wait for twenty minutes after Grey had landed to unlock them again. And it appeared that those twenty minutes were up! The doors were thrown open and journalists flooded in. Grey waited a few moments and leapt the gap between the parkades and hurried down the stairwell to the car. And he was off!

His escape from the airport went without a hitch from there. He drove through the city with ease until he reached his house and knocked on the front door. His dad was the one to let him in. Grey walked in the door and proceeded to the living room, only to learn that he had not escaped the game of 20000 questions. Max, Tobi and Jessica were all sitting in the living room, arms crossed and looking at him very pointedly.

"Can I go back to the airport?" Grey asked jokingly, but with a hint of genuine fear.

"Almost a year and you didn't tell us anything." Tobi started.

"You're gonna start talking and you aren't gonna stop unless we say so." Jessica added.

"You owe us that much." Max finished. Grey didn't disagree. He took a seat in an unoccupied chair, ignoring it's groaning protest.

"Okay then, where should I start?"

The questioning went on for an hour or two. Grey wasn't really paying attention. He told them everything. His abduction, the experimentation, what little scraps he remembered from his escape, his couple of weeks on the run until he ran into Monarch, taking up their offer of protection and his battle with Barry, Simon and Riya before they managed to partially reverse their mutations. From there, he went on to detail his role in battling the militia and the counterattack that led to them recovering the few cross-species that hadn't been sent into battle and those yet to be experimented on. He skipped over his battle with the monstrosity, deciding that those details were best kept close to the vest. After that, he went into detail about the stuff they already knew about. That cross-species are now a thing that is confirmed to exist in the rest of the world, that Monarch had a branch organization that was rapidly growing to eclipse Monarch itself in terms of public visibility, that the branch organization was for cross-species study and aid exclusively (Though what the term of cross-species properly defined was still being established by the UN) and that Grey had a position in that new organization, both as a representative of all current cross-species and someone who helped cross-species come to grips with their new existences.

"That about covers everything" Grey said.

"Everything?" Jessica asked pointedly.

"Everything I'm legally able to tell you, anyway." Grey responded, immediately drawing protests from all three of them. He shook his head and clapped his hands rather hard, making a much louder than normal clap. That got them to quiet down really quickly.

"I wasn't kidding when I told you that a lot of this was still illegal to speak about. What little I could have told you but didn't was just me opting not to. Look, it's been nearly a year and almost everyone who was in the middle of this, be it the way I was or others at Monarch still haven't sorted out everything. In fact, there's been very little sorted out at all. That's just the reality of it. On top of all that, the people responsible are still out there and we've only shut down one of their bases. They could conceivably have dozens or hundreds of them, based on how much advanced tech they had, as well as soldiers."

The three of them quieted down after that. It was rather sobering to hear that there could be an army equipped with highly advanced weaponry and genetic augmentations lurking under their noses.

"Okay, enough with the depressing stuff. I came back for a little R&R and I plan to get it before the media realizes that I ditched the airport before they got inside. First off, some small souvenirs!"

The moment the words were spoken, Grey heard the rapidly approaching footsteps of his younger siblings.

"PRESENTS?!" They both asked in shrill voices.

"Only if you don't start jumping on me for them." Grey said. The last time he'd gone on a trip without them and brought back gifts, he'd been violently tackled to the ground. They both sheepishly rubbed the back of their necks before perking up again when Grey grabbed the suitcase with gifts.

For the twins, he had brought them each a special fishing lure made in BC. The family loved fishing. For Max, he had a special hammock that Grey had found in a shop in a Vancouver shopping district. Max loved napping and he loved the outdoors, therefore a nap outdoors was the greatest thing ever invented to him. For Jessica, Grey had gotten her a piece of amethyst from the same shopping center that he had found the hammock shop in. She liked collecting stones and this one was in a colour she didn't have yet.

And he had one more gift for everyone. He pulled out seven sealed envelopes and handed them out to the twins, his parents and his friends. They all opened them and their jaws dropped. Inside were snapshots of email confirmations for plane tickets to Vancouver.

"I checked the timing and it all checks out. To be clear, I'm not taking you on a tour of my workplace. I'm not allowed to do that. But I can spend time with you out in BC."

Immediately he was mobbed by hugs and 'thank you's. He managed to extricate himself from them, grinning the whole time.

"Does that make up for the long time waiting for answers?"

* * *

Rothstein was absolutely giddy. After many phone calls, many cashed-in favours and a few new favours owed, he had managed to get his hands on an operational beta version of the Genetic Architect. The machine was designed to create new strands of DNA from scratch. Essentially, they could create blank DNA and recode it as they saw fit. It wasn't perfect, as was the case with all DNA. There would inevitably be mutations and other shakeups that would prevent a perfect realization of the organism the user would attempt to create. Still, the fact they could digitally code a new organism and then use the gestation pod within the machine to grow the organism. Better yet, this version was able to create multiple digital renditions of the potential outcomes of the DNA they intended to grow, would analyse the finished product to see what went right and what went wrong, then could start the process over again, making adjustments with each attempt. It was a marvel of genetics technology.

It was currently being set up in an unoccupied wing of the genetics lab, where Rothstein would be calling the shots. He had already run a systems check and determined the device was in working order and ready for the first attempt. They were starting simple, creating a computer-generated DNA of a Mouse/Gecko. However, Rothstein intended to go straight for the big stuff as soon as he could. To him, this initial test was merely a formality. The overall objective of this organization was to bring about the next evolution of humanity. Sure, they invested in development of new weaponry, but that was for when they were ready to bring their evolution out to the world.

Like that went so well last time. No, if the evidence wasn't already clear, they were going to have to force this change on the world. But there would be time for that later. For now, he just needed to start the machine. Rothstein typed a few commands into the machine and several screens blinked into existence, the primary one displaying a strand of DNA that was slowly changing in accordance to information on the screen. Then, the image shrunk and another strand emerged from the side of the original. More began to fan out, almost like cards from a deck. Each strand of DNA was slightly different. No two were quite the same. Rothstein selected a model from the provided set and it showed an image of a mouse with a more flat, triangular head and the legs of a gecko. Everything was still covered in fur.

"Well, that seems as good a place to start as any." Rothstein mused before turning the activation key. The machine began to hum and the strand of selected DNA began to rotate. The gestation pod began to fill with a nutrient solution. The process wouldn't take too long. The machine could drastically reduce the gestation time, though that could lead to some corners being accidentally cut. For now, they would reduce the completion time to 35%. That was well within the parameters. Rothstein checked a few settings and enabled the onboard AI to carefully cultivate this first attempt.

Confident in the machine, he went to finish his check of the flora wing.

There hadn't been too much change since he was last here, but there had been some advancement with the mice and geckos. There were a few mice that now sported a line of thorns down their spines, similar to that of a dinosaur. Others now had leaves growing from them along their backs and occasionally limbs. Over with the geckos, they had a couple that had much larger mouths that were disturbingly similar to the jaws of a Venus flytrap. There was a sweet smell emanating from the jaws, which were open wide. A fly that had been introduced to the enclosure landed in the mouth of one of the geckos and the jaws snapped shut with a brief noise.

Rothstein made his way over to the location where the rose of interest was being kept. It appeared to have grown a bit, but that was about it.

"Any change that isn't immediately obvious?" He inquired. The scientist shook his head.

"No. The solar radiation consumption has increased again, but we still aren't seeing and big developments."

Rothstein shook his head.

"Keep the course. Do you have any other projects happening?" Rothstein continued.

"Actually, the Directors recently put in a request for a new plant to be spliced with human DNA. We opted to run the rose again to see if the rose itself is the problem."

The scientist led him over to another rose, which was pink in color.

"This rose was bred from pure red ones, so there has been a visible change at least. However, that's about it." The scientist reported. Rothstein seemed intrigued and a bit put out at the same time.

"Well, at least there's something. I'll check back in soon. Perhaps roses are more easily spliced with mammal DNA than reptilian. I'll arrange for that to be looked into more closely."

Rothstein left the lab and returned to his quarters. Or at least, he intended to. He was waylaid by his lab-issued communicator buzzed, informing him that the Director who oversaw this base wanted a word with him.

He changed course immediately and went to a large office located on the floor closest to the surface. He entered his personal password and gave a retinal scan before pressing a button, triggering a loud buzzing noise. The door opened a few seconds later and Rothstein strode inside. Inside was a woman with a tan complexion and short hair. She wore a business suit and had cold, calculating gray eyes. Her nails were long and meticulously filed, as well as painted black.

"Director, you wished to speak with me?" Rothstein inquired respectfully and cautiously. The Director nodded.

"Indeed, doctor. Please take a seat." The Director replied as she motioned to a chair. Rothstein sat down easily and maintained a relaxed posture. It wouldn't do to show any apprehensiveness to the Director.

"I recently received word from one of our other installations. The one focused predominantly in viral genetic enhancement."

Rothstein leaned forward. The Director of that installation was known to be secretive about the projects in development within its walls. It was almost as tight lipped as Yorburg was, before his untimely end.

"One of my informants managed to copy some project files and send them to me without getting caught. One in particular details a virus that can cause a host to undergo drastic mutation over the course of a few days, though it's incubation period is rather long. I took the liberty of running the project's specifications through my personal Analysis Engine and found that the death toll from this virus would far exceed its success rate."

Rothstein tilted his head a bit.

"That's not entirely uncommon for trial periods or tertiary tests."

"Perhaps" The Director continued. "But this virus has been in development for half a decade and undergone seven separate testing phases. And they seem convinced that the project will soon be ready for deployment."

That straightened Rothstein's back.

"And the Director agrees?"

"Yes, unambiguously. I want you to develop something to deal with this before they officially deploy it. According to my source, they intend to fudge the information for the inter-Directorial approval. I can't call for an investigation without revealing my source's existence and raising suspicions of the rest. Therefore, I need this handled with a bit more… subtlety."

Now she really had Rothstein's attention.

"And what exactly does that entail?"

"I am supplying you with all the information I have about this virus. I'll stall the submission for approval and the vote as long as I can. Given the pace our research has accelerated since you arrived, plus our progress in recovering some of Yorburg's work, we can soon perform a human trial with DNA splicing. If we can collect early approval from the council, we could beat the genocidal maniacs to the punch. I want you to smuggle a vaccine for the virus into our DNA distribution system, along with the mutagens."

Rothstein stoked his chin.

"How much time do you estimate I have?"

"I can give you a month at the least, two at the most." The Director replied. Rothstein frowned.

"I can develop an anti-mutation vaccine in that time. It can stop the virus, but it won't be discriminatory to any future attempts. I could design it to wear off after a short time, but that will take a little over two months, optimistically."

The Director nodded.

"I'll do what I can. Also, keep this off the books."

Rothstein turned to leave.

"Director, may I ask why you requested me for this project? I'm sure there are more qualified personnel here to handle it."

The Director waved her hand dismissively.

"Perhaps, but they could be sources for other Directors. I know you aren't a source for anyone but yourself."

Rothstein resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"I find these internal politics to be irritating distractions that prevent proper progress."

The Director smirked a little.

"And yet you are so talented at them. You can't fool me, doctor. No one sticks that close to Yorburg for that amount of time unless their digging for something. And I have a feeling you found it. After all, its best to dispose of a useless asset before it becomes a problem, right?"

"Perhaps…" Rothstein replied as he left. He had work to do.

 **It's so much more fun to write what's going on in the evil lair. This chapter, I wanted to do a little bit more setup for the next big monster, as well as explore the internal politics of our villains. Particularly, Rothstein. Rothstein is a very particular type of scum that everyone loathes, yet are keenly aware that they need him around. And he knows it too, as well as how to maintain that need.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, he is really fun to write!**

 **Author: Well, I think that covers everything. Have a lovely day and I'll see you next week!**


	22. The Observer effect (or lack thereof)

**Greetings all, and welcome back! So, I've been considering doing a few chapters devoted to just the villains since I find them more interesting and easy to write, and because there really isn't anything interesting going on with Grey and his crew right now. We are going to do the vacation chapter, but that's coming a little later. Anyway, when I first started thinking of dividing these 'seasons' into pods, I had thought that each pod would be about eight chapters long.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, it ain't looking like that now.**

 **Author: Indeed. Now it's looking more like ten or twelve chapters per pod. So, lets refer to this current pod as the 'floodgate' pod. The floodgate pod will likely continue along a similar trajectory to the first season, which was divided into capture/experimentation, escape and rescue, and counterattack. This was all spread over sixteen chapters and while I like how it went, I have to admit that the way this pod is shaping up, it's gonna be longer. This is probably good news to you guys, but to me it could mean this story dragging on longer than I want it to. Believe me, I love this story, just like I loved New Dawn (The Spiderman one that wasn't even about Spiderman. It may be under a new title) But by the end, I just wanted to get it done. That's why I took such a long break before starting the new 'season'. However, it could shake out a different way. Based on where I want the story to go right now, the pods could stay the same and we keep the pods the same, but instead have more pods. Who knows.**

 **Creativity: Wow, this pseudo heart-to-heart is really going on for a while.**

 **Author: Quiet, you. Anyway, there's other stories I want to publish, but I don't want to overexert and try to update two or three stories at once. I know my limits, both in time and physical ability and I wouldn't be able to do two stories simultaneously without having a massive backlog for both of them.**

 **Okay, enough with this ridiculously long A/N. Please enjoy chapter 20!**

* * *

In a secret base, located deep underground, within a lab filled with dozens of mixed up animals and plants, a single ordinary fly flitted above the busy scientists that milled about on the floor. Some were carrying papers and digital storage devices, others were carrying specimens to new enclosures, and some were in deep discussion about one thing or another. The fly buzzed about the ceiling until it eventually dipped lower and landed on a flower before crawling inside it's petals to investigate. It soon left, and was drawn to another flower, not too far away. It's ultraviolet-sensitive eyes fixated on the glowing flower and it poked inside to take a closer look. However, the glow the flower emitted felt uncomfortable, and the fly soon left. It was eventually drawn to a very sweet smell, coming from two red leaves. It landed inside and was immediately crushed and swallowed, all evidence of it's existence erased.

* * *

 _Twelve days later…_

Rothstein was sequestered in his lab, working determinedly on the task the Director had covertly assigned him. He had worked out some of the chemistry already, but he had a long way to go and not much time to do it.

Just as he was about finish a calculation, an alarm on his desk went off. He had to go and perform a routine check of the lab. He had sent word to them that he would be forced to perform less checks, omitting the cause of this change of course, but he had them write daily reports for him to collect when he did come for the checks. It had been over a week since his last one, but little happened that was of interest to him. Even though the splicing of animals was progressing nicely, having moved up to birds, large mammals and reptiles, and human trials scheduled to start in a few days, it all seemed to be moving too slow for him. On the plus side, the Genetic Architect machine had been provided with an upgrade. Or rather, several peripherals that added more gestation pods that could operate independently of the main unit. They simply received orders and necessary information from the unit, which had collected plenty of valuable data from both its successes and failures. The third attempt of the initial creature had been a resounding success, creating a mouse that could move like, and in the same places as a gecko, allowing it to cling to walls and ceilings with ease. They performed a few more tests afterwards, such as splicing common bat DNA with Bearded Dragon DNA. The result had been a bearded dragon with a fur collar and leathery wings that were capable of short flight and a well-maintained glide. And now, with the largest pod, they were attempting to successfully create a human, horned lizard hybrid. So far, the gestation was going well, though it was slow. They opted to only accelerate it by 15%, making the process much more slow going, but necessary. They didn't want to cut corners with a human trial.

Rothstein strode passed the usual experiments and walked into the flora wing. What he saw shocked him.

There were two large, bulbous flowers growing from a wide dirt pen that had been set up in the center of the room. They were surrounded by dead, decaying roses. One was significantly larger than the other, having a bulb diameter of about two-and-a-half feet, while the other had a bulb of a no more than a foot in diameter. The larger one had many thorny vines wrapped around the bulb, seemingly holding it shut. It was also covered in a rubbery membrane. The smaller one had no such membrane and no vines either, though it did occasionally twitch.

Rothstein hurried over to the scientist who was overseeing everything.

"What happened?!" He asked with no preamble.

"We're not sure. We suspect that the original two roses somehow cross-pollinated and that these two are the offspring. We came in ten days ago and both roses were dead, with chutes coming from both sets of soil. Considering the pace they were growing at, we moved them into this larger area and set up the solar projectors as well as a nutrient pump. All but these two lived. We suspected that the smaller one would die a few days ago, considering all the others died, suspected to have been killed by the larger, but it's left it alone."

"How much larger are they expected to grow?" Rothstein asked in awe.

"Unknown. However, we will probably have to move them to a larger environment soon. Or at least the large one. We intend to transfer them both to a dedicated laboratory by the end of the week, but for now, we stay the course."

Rothstein nodded. He lingered on for a few more moments before he kept going to the Genetic Architect lab. The current subject was developing nicely, though he still thought it could go faster. Still, they didn't want to rush the process. Cutting corners with such a complex process could lead to disastrous results.

He collected a progress report from the AI, as well as the scientists working on the two mutant roses, deciding to put aside an hour today to read the reports that he had been unable to collect. His other project would still be taking the lion's share of his time, but he needed to keep up some appearances. Besides, this unforeseen turn of events demanded investigation. Very close investigation.

* * *

 _One week later…_

Rothstein and the team working with the mutant roses were hard at work, carefully moving the two massive, bulbous flowers to a new room with a more spacious area allotted to them for growing. The process was slow going and tedious, but necessary. By now, the smaller bulb was approaching 3 feet in diameter, while the larger had just exceeded seven-and-a-half feet in diameter. Rothstein was mildly concerned by the fact that the more dangerous looking flower was now taller than everyone in the room. And the fact that it showed no signs of stopping. It wasn't just that, however. They had been forced to start using gamma projectors in addition to the nutrient mix that they fed the flowers, as they had started to consume ionizing radiation.

Rothstein had ordered genetic tissue be take for analysis. They had taken it from the stems, as the bulbs seemed to be sheltering something, particularly the larger one. That membrane couldn't be for nothing. The hypothesis that they were born of cross-pollination was all the more likely as both organisms contained DNA from both of the original flowers. DNA that matched the post-splicing flowers they were spawned from. They did notice that Godzilla's DNA was much more prominent in the larger bulb than it was in the smaller, possibly explaining it's much larger size.

After that, they used a machine that used the principles of echo-location to create a sound-based 3D projection of the bulbs without harming them. It was still experimental, so they had a difficult time telling what was inside them, but they were getting close. Inside both bulbs, there was a large mass connected to the stem. They weren't sure what either was, but the masses were both growing in tandem with the flowers.

Rothstein turned to leave but paused. He could have sworn he saw a few of the vines moving underneath the membrane. He shrugged it off as a trick of the eyes and left, heading back to his lab to continue work on the vaccine. The Director had arranged for a minor accident that would render the current batch of viruses useless. They were already working on more, but the process took time. Time that prevented them from submitting the project for approval, which then needed to be submitted for deployment. Rothstein was determined to make the most of that time.

* * *

 _Two days later: Vancouver…_

"Again!"

Grey grunted as he through his opponent to the mat. He had started taking mixed marshal arts a few weeks ago and was currently working on grappling techniques. He had opted to start attending these classes since he expected that there would be more fighting in his future, and he didn't want his fighting style to still consist of just hitting things hard, throwing things hard, and throwing things at other things.

One thing that he had noticed when he started these lessons was that his speed was… lacking. However, he had also learned that he could take hits a lot better than the others he was training with, and he obviously could hit many times harder. His fighting style was rapidly developing into waiting out his opponents behind his defences and capitalizing on mistakes.

The instructor called an end to the day's session and everyone packed up and left. Grey boarded a ferry to Vancouver Island and climbed into the vehicle Monarch had sent for him. The ride back to the facility was short. He immediately went back to his room to rest for a bit before going to find the rest of the crew. He was glad that they no longer had swarms of reporters outside, trying to break in or corner him for interviews. Monarch had finally gotten tired of the break-ins and filed for paperwork that forced even the most determined of journalists to abandon hope of entering the facility without express permission.

While Monarch did want to be open with the press, there was still the fact that the information they were after was very sensitive and more than a few publications had been rather insensitive with what information they did have. Plus, they were all determined to get an exclusive interview with Grey himself, which looked to be nothing other than tabloid trash at the moment. Everyone wanted to know what it was like to be a cross-species and all had expectations for what it would be like. He'd heard plenty of 'oh, it must be so rough!' and 'You have my deepest sympathies.' And other dribble like that. It was an adjustment to be sure, but it wasn't like he'd had a couple of limbs lopped off or had a painful, terminal illness. Needless to say, the paperwork filed included a clause that said Grey could only be interviewed if he approached another body for it, and it could only be published with his as well as Monarch's express permission. Any violation would be grounds for a lawsuit.

Shaking his head in an attempt to clear his head of those annoying thoughts, he checked his emails quickly before heading down to the lounge area. Sabrina and Ben were already there, discussing a potential trip into Vancouver for fun. They had full rights to come and go as they pleased, and they didn't have Grey's problem of public visibility, but they had thus far stayed at Monarch. Grey hadn't asked why, though he was confident enough to hazard a guess that the wall of journalists that had been at the door until recently had something to do with it.

They noticed Grey approaching and welcomed him into the conversation.

"Know any good places to visit?" Sabrina asked. Grey pondered it for a moment.

"Well, there's a nice, rustic shopping center. It's located near a pier and it was pretty cool to visit. There's also the aquarium. I haven't been yet, but I'm planning to go when my family visits." Grey rattled off. He kept doing a bit of brainstorming before Darcie and Zack showed up.

"What's the discussion?" Zack asked. They filled him and Darcie in on their tentative plans to take a trip to Vancouver. Apparently, he, Laura and Jack had been having similar conversations, but hadn't brought it up with the others yet. Grey repeated his suggestions to them and they all started discussing a joint outing. There was some debate as to whether or not Grey should go with them, since if he was recognized, anyone with him could be pegged for someone who works at Monarch. Or more likely, since they were all around Grey's age, they would be pegged as cross-species. Not that they'd have to worry about reporters that much. Grey and Monarch both had made it clear that any cross-species found being harassed for interviews could easily apply for similar protection. Still, not everyone wanted to be turned into faces for the media to go on and on about. Grey already had to deal with people looking at him, in what he assumed the lookers thought was secret, in his neighbourhood back home. People other than his own family were uncomfortable talking to him, not wanting to ask about his mutation but unable to thing about any other thing to talk to him about. It had been a little awkward to talk to people when he had returned almost a year ago, but the people got over it quickly when it seemed like just a case of prolonged kidnapping. Now it was revealed that was no longer entirely human and everyone was walking on eggshells near him. It irked him a bit, but he knew there was nothing to be done about it.

They kept talking for a while before Laura suggested they head down to the cafeteria for dinner, but Grey had other thoughts. He proposed that they get takeout from a nearby town. It was only a five-minute drive away, and Grey had wanted to look into the surrounding area a little more. After everyone told him their preferred pizza, he placed the order for pickup and waited ten minutes before driving to the pizzeria to collect the order. Upon his return, they went to a private dining area that was normally reserved for guests and dug in. It was safe to say that it was a welcome change from the cafeteria food. They talked over the food, made some jokes about Grey's former media problem, and just generally had a good meal. Soon all the pizza was gone and everyone felt great. It was much larger to feel lethargic or gain more weight as a cross-species of a Kaiju. The rate at which they burned through food was as much a gift as it was a curse.

Grey got up and stretched. It was getting late and had work to do tomorrow. There was going to be a total of three plane flights in one day, four follow-ups for as cross-species that opted to not come to the facility as well as a refill of an ointment they developed for the itching problem several cross-species had developed and the radiation supplements, and a visit to a governing body. Oh, the joy that would be found there.

Grey walked back to his room and got into his night clothes before climbing under the covers and falling into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

 _Four days later, deep underground…_

Rothstein shook his head. This was starting to get ridiculous. The larger rose had experienced a growth spurt and now sported a bulb diameter of at least fifteen feet. The smaller one had also experienced a growth spurt, but not to the degree that the larger one had. Its bulb was now approaching five feet.

The growth spurts weren't the only change. The larger flower's stem had started to rapidly thicken, and was now as thick as a tree trunk, with roots as gnarled and thick as a one too. At the base of this 'trunk', a divot was starting to form, which housed a small, orange glowing sac of some kind. It occasionally pulsed, though the scanners they were using didn't show any problems.

At this rate, there wasn't going to be enough room for the larger one to grow. This facility wasn't built for large construction such as the Mecha Godzilla project. They would have to move it to a larger site. One that had room for the flower to continue growing. That would require some phone calls.

Rothstein made a note to contact the Director about that situation, as well as provider her with a progress report on the vaccine. He had begun a computer simulation of the variations of his vaccine against the data he had of the virus before he came down here, and he expected good results, based on the last few simulations he had run. If all went well, he'd have the vaccine completed in a couple more weeks.

The progress on the vaccine had actually slowed down a touch. Rothstein couldn't shake the feeling of unease he felt around these flowers, even when he left the room. He felt as though they were constantly… thinking. Especially the larger one. He could have sworn he'd seen the vines within the membrane moving at least twice in the last few days. Whatever was under that blasted membrane was beginning to wake up. And when it woke up, it would want out.

Shaking his head, Rothstein collected the reports he needed and promptly left. On his way back to his personal lab, he informed the Director of the need to move the larger flower to a new location that had both the proper size and equipment to handle it. The team that worked predominantly on larger flower would be going with, while the team working with the smaller one would stay behind. He also updated her on the progress of the vaccine, though he also took the time to voice his concerns about the larger flower. It wouldn't be a poor idea to have a contingency in place for if it turned out to not be as docile as it appeared.

The Director assured him that she would take that into consideration and inform the Director of whatever facility the flower was sent to of his concerns. It was a hollow comfort to Rothstein, but at least there would be a bit more caution when working with this anomaly.

Rothstein soon found himself in front of his lab, nearly kissing the door in fact! He deftly opened it and checked the analysis. It still had a little ways to go, but it was getting there. For now, he would occupy himself with the reports. Settling into his chair, he got to work. It would be a long time before he finished.

 **Well, there's chapter 20 done! I didn't make note of this before, since I was a bit occupied with that other business further up, but now I can talk about it here. We reached chapter 20! It's not as big an occasion as in my previous story, but it's still an occasion!**

 **Creativity: I even brought cupcakes!**

 **Author: You bring cupcakes all the time. Though I will give you credit. These cupcakes are much fancier than the usual.**

 **Creativity: The occasion called for it.**

 **Author: I won't argue with that.**

 **See ya next week!**

* * *

 **Post Completion edit:**

 **So, I have recently been receiving a higher influx of questions that I cannot answer until the next week, which I find... Aggravating. The nature of the problem lies in two issues. One: people who use guest accounts. Two: People who block Private Messages. I understand reasons for doing both, however I would also request that one does not ask questions if they actively make it more difficult to provide answers. Again, regardless of your reasons for doing either, it doesn't change the fact that you are setting yourself up for a delayed reaction.**


	23. Caution: Results may Vary

**So, as of this writing, I am back in college. Yay… In all seriousness, I'm glad to be back in college. I got some interesting courses ahead and so far, the workload has been easily managed. It is only the first week, though. It could get more difficult quickly.**

 **Creativity: Well at least you took care of your studying already!**

 **Author: True. Anyway, I have a healthy backlog and I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to get at least one chapter finished a week until I got this story finished. Heck, If I got two done a week I would be done before midterms!**

 **Like that's happening.**

 **Wow, this opening bit is not nearly as enthusiastic as I feel the others are. No bit or anything.**

 **Hopefully I'll have perked up by next chapter. For now, enjoy chapter 21!**

* * *

Rothstein watched with tight lips as a large team of technicians and specialists carefully extricated the larger flower from the soil they kept both flowers in. They were loading it into a larger container that was fitted with a nutrient pump and gamma projectors to keep it alive and well while being transported to a new location. The Director had arranged for the rose to be transported to their base in Hawaii. There was a construction silo there that was just about finished being retrofitted to accommodate the flower. Considering it had used to aid in the construction of the mark 1 Mecha-Godzilla, it should be more than large enough for the flower to grow. The smaller one would be remaining with them. Its growth had continued and it was now about 6 feet in diameter. He had also noticed that when they dimmed the lights, both bulbs were slightly luminous, emitting a reddish-orange glow.

Currently, they were slowly extricating the larger flower from the soil with as much care and caution as they could muster. After carefully removing it from the soil without damaging its roots, they carefully lowered it into the new soil before making sure the roots were covered and activating the nutrient pump, as well as the gamma projectors. Rothstein could have sworn he saw something shivering under the membrane, but he didn't pay it a second thought. The container was shut and shipped out the massive door and off to the submarine launch.

Everyone let out breaths of relief when they thought no one was looking. Everyone was glad to have succeeded in the loading, and to be rid of the thing. However, no one noticed the smaller flower beginning to shiver.

* * *

Grey grumbled as he slowly and angrily hunted for the bottle of aspirin he knew was in his desk drawer somewhere. He'd spent a good portion of the morning with Graham, three lawyers and the branch organization's Director in a rather tense and enraging meeting with the Department of Defence for several countries, staving off attempts to acquire the data pertaining to cross-species mutation process and the serum used to make it happen. Some jackasses had gotten it into their head that cross-species super-soldiers was a good idea. They had tried to justify it as "fighting fire with fire" since the lunatics that started this whole thing were still out there. Needless to say, team Monarch was having absolutely none of it. There was one point that the D.O.D tried to make that really rubbed Grey the wrong way. They claimed that since he had taken legal part in both the defence and counterattack against the genetic splicing scumbags and was on legal listing of a team headed by Ford Brody to deal with these head cases should they ever show their faces again, the countries represented ought to have their own teams of equal ability, which would include cross-species from the list of known cross-species. Monarch countered this by stating that the team in question was a privately funded and operated by the new organization and, by extension, Monarch itself, which was an autonomously run organization and not a country with a standing military. In addition to this, Monarch, while not an official government body, still had recently amassed an army of lawyers to aid in dealing with legal matters concerning cross-species, which included the conscription of them into the military.

They also mentioned to them that even if they could somehow find a way to do this, it would be a PR catastrophe. Despite the relative ease that Grey and several others had adjusted to the mutation, it didn't change that many were still struggling with it. And that was ignoring the fact that regardless of how adjusted anyone was, they had still been experimented on and many were forced to become living weapons. Having a military body come and grab these people to do it again would not fly in that country, not to mention how you would look to the rest of the world.

So, after the repeated thrashing of the D. , Grey had left with one hell of a headache. He hated dealing with government officials. Being a representative for a year-old demographic was already difficult, but having to deal with people only concerned about how dangerous that demographic was, or trying to find ways to exploit them just made him want to throw them out of the building.

That wasn't to say that all the government dealings had been so infuriating. There had been a few meetings with people who genuinely cared about ensuring that cross-species could be properly integrated back into society and to ensure that they could lead as normal lives as they could. But they were few and far between. Plus, there were some other legal things that he had to be present for. One thing that had been rather tedious to sit through was a meeting regarding how to classify cross-species. Some were arguing that it should just be an additional thing to be tacked onto one's biological background prior to mutation, while others argued that it should be considered a speciation. The second made more sense to Grey, but he honestly was more annoyed that that meeting was considered much more important than how to provide medication for cross-species, since their new physiology reportedly caused some small problems with meds. Though that wasn't a terribly big concern at the moment, if Grey thought about it. His immune system, as well as the other cross-species had been turned into a monster, making them practically immune to most infections, while also reducing the severity of existing ailments.

"Finally…" Grey muttered. He took the aspirin tablet and lay down on the bed. After dozing for a few minutes, he got up and grabbed a bag of luggage from beside his bed. He and Graham were travelling to France to have a follow-up with another cross-species. Laura was joining them for the trip since she hadn't seen her family for a while. She had opted to take Monarch up on the offer to come to the facility since she had been extremely stressed about people learning about what happened to her and being shunned for it. Now that she had better control of her transformation abilities, as well as being in the presence of people who had been through the same nightmare she'd been through had given her a confidence boost that she had sorely needed.

He met Laura and Graham in the garage where they took a Monarch issue van to the airport. The flight to France wasn't eventful, so Grey took the opportunity to catch up on some shuteye before arriving. After landing, they immediately went to the hotel to unpack before Laura's family met them in the hotel lobby. Grey and Graham stayed back for the initial greeting before politely excusing themselves to head out for the follow-up they had travelled here for. The first thing Grey noticed when they arrived was that he could sense slightly higher-than-average levels of ionizing radiation coming from the cross-species in question. He mentioned this to Graham before noticing the bracelet that soaked up the ionizing radiation that cross-species naturally emitted was scuffed and dented. He requested to see it and gave it a once over. Sure enough, there were some damaged wires as well as an ever-so-slightly damaged IC chip.

When he questioned the cross-species about how it got damaged, he just got a look off to the side. Grey noticed faded bruises on the side of their neck. When Graham moved to examine them, the family looked shocked. Grey suspected it was probably trouble at school, but didn't press it. He knew that this cross-species wasn't one that went public, so he doubted that whoever had done this knew about the mutation. Instead, he replaced the bracelet with a new one and extended the offer to come to the facility. After wrapping up the follow-up they went back to the hotel. Laura was staying with her family overnight, though they would be having dinner at the hotel restaurant. Graham would be joining them, but Grey had to pardon himself from the meal. He had some more work to take care of and it had to be done that night. After placing an order for room service and making himself a cup of coffee, he sat down and continued writing up some short reports for Graham and a few others to use for paperwork. He'd learned enough about technical writing before he formally started at Monarch to get by, but they didn't have him writing proper reports yet. Instead, he provided as detailed information as he could for someone else to use for the report. Intermixed with the reports were several email correspondences with other cross-species regarding health conditions as well as decisions regarding going to the new facility. There was also discussion of speaking events with a few others, though they felt that the dust hadn't settled enough from announcement to start that yet.

He finished the correspondences and began going over a proposal for smaller centers to be established across the planet that acted in the same ideal of the larger on that Monarch had already constructed. They could be considered to be cross-species 'clinics' for lack of a better word, as well as specialized pharmacies. That would be a huge load off Grey and Graham's plate since they wouldn't have to be constantly flying out for follow-ups, instead a cross-species could just go to one of these clinics.

Grey wasn't actually able to sign off on it. He was just being asked to offer his opinion on the proposal and suggest improvements. So far, he didn't see many issues. One that he might consider was specialized housing for cross-species if they didn't feel comfortable staying in their homes for one reason or another, but that might be better as a separate project. He took down a few notes on the proposal before noticing that it was close to 11:00 at night! The coffee had just about run its course now and Grey felt a wave of tiredness smash into him. After making sure the files were all saved, he wandered over to his bed and toppled onto it.

* * *

The next day, Grey awoke the pre-set alarm on his phone. The sound some how managed to make him feel so alert, yet so monumentally crushed every… time… it rang. After hauling himself out of bed and going about his morning routine, he got a message from Graham, notifying him that she was meeting a colleague regarding an investigation into potential evidence of a new Kaiju. Regardless of whether it was or wasn't, she was going to be out for the majority of the day, So Grey decided to visit a nearby park to unwind a bit. He wandered around the park and eventually chose to sit under a shady tree for a bit. A bit turned into a couple of hours. After having enough of sitting on the ground, he went back to the hotel and grabbed a bite to eat before Graham got back. They got each other caught up on what work had been done by Grey, and how the meet up with the colleague had gone for Graham. As it turned out, the cave drawings hadn't had depictions of an undiscovered Kaiju, but did shed some light on one that was known to exist. Grey didn't press for details, since he knew that it wasn't his "jurisdiction."

Instead, he and Graham went back to their own rooms and ordered dinner. After dinner was done, Grey checked his emails for anything important and went over the proposal again. After jotting down a few more notes, he turned in for the night again. They were leaving for the airport early the next day, so he wanted to get some proper shuteye.

* * *

Rothstein and the team studying the mutant flower were all in a state of panic. The readings coming from the flower were erratic and flailing, the flower itself was shuddering and convulsing, and it kept flashing orange. He had ordered all unnecessary personnel vacate the area while they tried to stabilize the flower. They had tried to contact the transport of the larger flower, but they hadn't received any transmissions back yet, though they did know it was still en route to the specified base. It was probably just a malfunction on the sub. Still, that just made them even more terrified. If the larger flower was reacting in the same way, it could be much more dangerous than the smaller one.

Rothstein was frantically typing on a control panel, trying to find some way to cease this erratic behaviour when the bulb began to part. It rippled a few times, like it was about to be sick before it opened and a large, goo covered lump was deposited in the dirt. However, further inspection revealed that that lump was in fact, a human. They had very green skin, and even greener hair, which was thick with the amniotic gunk, which also had dirt mixed in as well. They were huddled in the fetal position and shivering.

After Rothstein snapped out of shock, he called for someone to get the new creature to a holding pen and to get them cleaned up. As some of the scientists finished get the amniotic goo off the humanoid, Rothstein used a handheld machine to run a brief diagnostic before quickly collecting a blood sample with a syringe. The humanoid didn't seem to notice.

After they had transported the humanoid to a secure location they attached a few small, wireless sensors to them to monitor their vitals.

According to the scans they had, plus testimonies from the scientists who had a proper look, the humanoid was female and was biologically an adolescent. Her blood had many properties associated with chlorophyll and her hair appeared to be some form of extremely thin, yet sturdy vine. It seemed a bit sparse, but data showed that they would grow leaves very soon. From the vital signs, her body would continue to require both ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, as well as proper food and water, though food was less of an issue since her blood could pick up some slack with it's chlorophyll properties.

Truth be told, Rothstein was completely floored by what had happened. He had never even considered the notion that the flower itself was simply a protective shell for a cross-species. And this was an unprecedented breakthrough. A successful humanoid cross-species containing the DNA of three creatures, counting the human DNA of course. Though now that he thought of it, Rothstein considered that Yorburg could hold some claim to that title. However, considering his untimely demise, no one knowing of his transformation before hand, and how spectacularly botched the result was, that could be ignored. Besides, there hadn't been any flora DNA in Yorburg.

Rothstein immediately contacted the Director and informed her of the development. After all the details were provided and much back and forth, they concluded to have an all female team work with the new cross-species. They opted for this since currently, the cross-species was mentally the equivalent of a newborn, even though she had the physical appearance of a teenager. She would need looking after and neither Rothstein nor the Director felt comfortable leaving the care in the hands of the male workers. Barring the fact that they would be essentially be caring for a baby, they still had to determine potential intellect and sentience. It would certainly be a letdown of this cross-species turned out to be a complete veggie… no pun intended.

After collecting a list of all the women working within this particular base, specifically in the genetics wing, as well as looking into some potential options out in the installation, they settled on the list and made a few phone calls.

In the meantime, Rothstein kept working on the formula for the vaccine the Director commissioned. He was close, so close! He just needed more time. Hopefully he'd get it.

* * *

 _Three days later…_

Rothstein was stood in an observation room. Currently, doctors Trill and Misaki were trying to teach the cross-species to speak. They hadn't gotten any words from her yet, but Trill was confident they were getting close. She claimed she could see recognition and curiosity in the cross-species eyes. Currently, the cross-species was dressed in a special outfit that breathed the best of all known fabrics. They hadn't yet determined if she needed to draw in oxygen through her epidermis yet, but they weren't about to scrape of some of her skin to examine it. They knew that the vine-like hair she had could do it, and that she did draw in air through her lungs like an animal, but they didn't want to take chances. Incidentally, several small leaves had started to grow from her hair, making the areas in question look slightly less sparse.

The language lessons continued for about an hour before they called it quits and left the cell. The cross-species didn't move around very much. Only occasionally moving to look at the one-way glass that made up a large portion of one wall. Most of her containment cell had a dirt floor, but there were some stepping stones on the floor so that the scientists didn't track dirt everywhere. Even then, they still only wore certain shoes inside the unit. Off to one side was a water source that cross-species would drink from occasionally or dip her feet in. They had originally thought she might have roots that could soak up water, but that wasn't quite the case. There weren't proper roots, but there were incredibly small hairs on the soles of her feet that could draw water into them for her. However, they had determined that they weren't proper roots. Other than that, she mainly just sat on her cot or on the floor, only responding to when one of the scientists came in with a meal (A specialized liquid diet they had developed specifically for her) or for more lessons.

Among the tests they had performed, they had managed to project her potential muscular strength. She did have enhanced strength, thought it was still the lowest of all known types of cross-species, though not precisely individual. She did however, have greater speed and agility on paper. Her skeleton and internal organs were compressed, but even then, she was still slightly under average in mass compared to other cases of compression.

Rothstein didn't quite know what to make of her. They didn't know the full extent of her capabilities, she seemed to be learning faster than he observed, though she had yet to demonstrate it, and the fact that she was still fundamentally a child was starting to wear on his patience. He was currently analysing a strand of DNA they had taken from her from before, searching for any changes from the original sample. Considering the rapid rate of mutations during the initial test, he wanted to be certain. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, there was nothing different. After submitting a report on the two strands, he went down to the Genetic Architect machine to see how it was performing. Sadly, their last two human trials hadn't quite worked. Both underwent rapid degeneration shortly after completion. Then he had a thought.

He plugged in the DNA sample from the new cross-species into the GA and had it reconfigure the last attempt with data from the new sample he had just logged. Hopefully this attempt wouldn't generate a bulb. He doubted the gestation pods would be able to hold one if it did. He activated three variations of the new sequences, which were scheduled to be completed in three and a half weeks. In addition to this, he included a special command that would have the machine fabricate memories of learning languages and muscle memory for speaking them.

He wondered if he could accomplish the same results that the new team was working on with the GA. After setting the machine to auto mode, he left the lab with a smirk on his face. Things were finally starting to turn around.

 **So yeah, human Biollante. Haven't figured out a name for her, but it will be plant based. It has to be, people. Also, anyone who starts kicking up a stink about the all women team, no. No mouthing off about that here. If someone starts mouthing off about it in PM or the review box, they shall be violently smited.**

 **Creativity: SMITE! SMITE! SMITE!**

 **Author: Indeed. So, I opted to have the Biollante human… thing be created in tandem with Biollante because I thought it worked well, showing how two beings with the same DNA sources can end up so drastically different. Also it seemed like a bit of a hassle to make Biollante, who already has human DNA btw, then make a cross-species for her post Godzilla beatdown. Seriously, does it not sound needlessly complicated to create a creature that it 1/3** **rd** **Godzilla, 1/3** **rd** **rose and 1/3** **rd** **human, then decide to splice all that into another human? That's just needlessly stupid.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, thinking about it made my cranium ache.**

 **Author: Well, see ya next week!**


	24. Outsourcing and Vacation time

**Greetings, all. I trust the week was satisfactory…**

 **Author: … What are you doing?**

 **Creativity: I was just… doing the… intro…**

 **Author: Poor… Very poor.**

 **Creativity: I know…**

 **Author: There's a reason I get Patricia do handle the intros you know.**

 **Creativity: I thought Patricia was in accounting.**

 **Author: The other Patricia. This is getting us no where.**

 **Welcome! So, by the time this comes out, it'll be… late February I think? Wow time flies. Anyway, I've been completing a chapter a week and even got an extra one out so it's plausible that we'll reach the end of the "season" before my backlog runs out. That'll be interesting if it does. I can keep building up the backlog for my other projects. I might have mentioned this in a previous chapter, but I have a backlog of 13 chapters for one another project I've been working on. I'd like you to think about that. If I released this story now and updated weekly, it would be 13 weeks before I had to start writing again to maintain that pace.**

 **No, I'm not releasing it now. I'll probably start posting it a month or two after this story is done. Which could conceivably be much longer than I anticipated.**

 **Well, enough of this! Here's chapter 22!**

* * *

Grey was in pain. Pain from his back, shoulders, arms… Everywhere basically. The source of his pain helped him to his feet before going to grab a water bottle.

Recently, Sabrina had started joining him at his mixed martial arts classes. Since she already had some background in them, she had trounced him in every exercise they'd participated in. While he had her beat in sheer strength, radiation absorption and general… Godzilla-ness, her previous training already put her far ahead of him. Thus, he had been beaten over, and over, and over again.

That wasn't to say it was easy for her. Grey was able to stand his ground and even get a few hits or pins, but she always bested him in the end. Too wide, was the gap in experience.

Even still, it didn't bug him. If anything, it was a comfort to know that the next time he was leading a raid against another one of those gene splicing pieces of rat dung, he'd have someone able to mop up just as efficiently as him. Besides, while he didn't have the same training and experience, he did have more 'life and death' experience, which would count more towards 'real' fights, which he would take over sparring experience any day.

After a few more trouncing's, the instructor called it for the day. The trip back to the facility was uneventful and they were both pretty worn out, so they both took it easy. Grey especially since he was more sore of the two of them, by a wide margin. After an early dinner and a shower, he went to bed early. His family and friends were going to be arriving at the airport tomorrow early in the day, and he was not going to be late for them.

After setting three separate alarms to go off every fifteen minutes when it was time to get up, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Rothstein marched down the hallway, eager to observe the next "lesson" for their test subject. They had settled on designating her Rose. Perhaps a bit too on the nose, but the name wasn't important. She had shown definite signs of responsiveness to various stimuli and visual understanding and association with words, objects and her surroundings. She was becoming more active, "exploring" her surroundings and showing some level of interest when the doctors showed up. The sub-dermal probes they had attached showed a positive response when she heard the door opening, which Rothstein found fascinating and encouraging.

In terms of communication, she was able to understand basic gestures like waving, nodding and shaking heads, come, go, stop, and was showing progressively greater understanding of the spoken language. She wasn't speaking yet, though all data pointed to her being biologically capable of it. It appeared she just hadn't tried yet.

Regardless, he was impressed by the increase in progress. A week ago, he had doubted she would ever do anything but tilt her head and occasionally get a drink from the small pond in her containment unit. Though as time had worn on, he couldn't shake the feeling that the cross-species was strangely familiar to him. He could have sworn he'd seen that face somewhere else before, but he simply couldn't place it. Oh well, it wasn't important anyway.

He arrived just in time to see doctor Trill heading inside. There was an immediate response from Rose, who looked up from where she had been watching the pond. She was seated on the cot they provided her with. Even with her newfound curiosity and increase in movement, she spent more time sitting on that cot than not.

Rothstein looked down at the tablet he had brought with him. It was displaying data from the sub-dermal probes, more specifically they were displaying brain activity. There was a positive response from Rose when Trill entered before it returned to neutral. Trill began interacting with Rose again, going through familiar motions of asking questions, telling her about various common things in the world like the sun, water, plants and animals, the air, other people, asking her yes or no questions, all things they had done before. They got some quicker responses and a few hand gestures, which was a definite improvement, but not much change otherwise.

Oh well, it was to be expected. They had essentially started with the mind of a newborn and the fact it was progressing as fast as it was starting to become encouraging.

Having decided he'd seen enough for the day, Rothstein departed and made his way back to his personal lab before sealing the door. The vaccine was coming along well. He was currently running it through an automated machine to test variations of it for variable differences in the virus. In the meantime, he walked to a large cupboard and opened it before pressing a small, nearly invisible switch at the back. The cupboard swung open with a hiss and rush of cold vapour. He reached in to the hidden compartment and removed a large cylinder that contained a putrid yellow liquid. He connected it to a separate machine and extracted a small amount of it into a smaller cylinder. The smaller cylinder was then transferred into another machine that Rothstein seated himself at before pressing a series of buttons and fiddling with a dial.

"Now then Yorburg, let's see if we can't untie this Gordian knot you created."

Yorburg worked for several hours with the machine, constantly fiddling and adjusting knobs and dials, experimentally pressing buttons and examining various meters and visuals that the screen presented him with.

"Truly sloppy work. Not at all up to the standard you set." Rothstein muttered as he adjusted a dial before receiving word from the Director that she had requested a meeting. Well, request just made it sound more formal and professional than order. He set the machine to standby, causing the chamber to hiss as it rapidly cooled. He departed swiftly and made his way through the facility until he reached the Director's office. After going through the fingerprint and retinal scans, he entered and was greeted by the Director.

"I'm running out of options for stalling further, Rothstein. The vaccine needs to be ready soon." The Director stated bluntly. Rothstein nodded.

"I'm just finishing the variable adaptations that the vaccine may need if they opt to include separate strains of the virus in the primary payload. It will only take a few hours, then I can mass produce it. Has the approval been submitted?" Rothstein asked after he finished his report.

"They haven't submitted their own request yet. We have three projects waiting for approval as we speak. One is use of the Genetic Architect machine for creation of our confirmed successes in human trials, as well as larger animals/plants crossed with other animals/plants that we have confirmed successes with. In addition to this, we have two prototype combat vehicles that are awaiting approval. Also, the rest of the Directors don't know about our new cross-species, except for the one we outsourced."

Rothstein nodded.

"How has the project been coming? I haven't been sent any reports." He asked.

"Its growth has continued. The whole organism now stands at easily twenty-five feet tall. The bulb's growth has slowed, but it is still growing. They are starting to get nervous since it's current rate of growth suggests it could reach Godzilla's size or even larger, given enough time. In any case, it's stopped taking the nutrient blend and is surviving solely on ionizing radiation."

"Will the silo hold it?" Rothstein inquired.

"We're not sure. In terms of height, I would say so. However, it's girth could pose a problem. Should the need arise, we can move it to one of our private islands and use our cloaking technology to mask it. Do you think it could transverse saltwater? I know that a normal rose wouldn't make it." The Director mused.

"True, but Godzilla is most at home in the ocean. That could allow it to make its way across large bodies of salt water unscathed. This is also all assuming the thing can actually move." Rothstein remarked before heading to the door.

"I'll have the data for the vaccine sent to your office immediately and the physical goods will be along as well. Good day, Director."

Rothstein hurried back to his lab and made sure the door was locked. He knew he was being paranoid, but he didn't want anyone catching wind of what he was up to.

He reactivated the machine he was working with before the Director summoned him and refreshed himself on where he left off. He was definitely getting close to untangling this horrible mess. Then he'd be able to find more information that Yorburg had left behind.

Many years ago, Rothstein learned that Yorburg had several vaults coded to his DNA that would self destruct if anyone tried tampering with them or attempted to gain access without the right DNA. He hid personal research notes and data pertaining to secret projects within those vaults and even hid successful results of those projects within a few of them! He also knew that Yorburg hid the vaults in his workplaces and that they were practically indestructible, vacuum sealed and had several shells that protected the contents from heat, cold, concussive impacts and EMP attacks. Yorburg hid only the most valuable information and items in there, and now they were free game to any who knew about them. However, they also needed Yorburg's DNA. Which only Rothstein was currently in possession of.

Well, not the correct DNA. It was contaminated and gummed up with DNA from no less than three Kaiju, so now Rothstein was attempting to extract enough strands of Yorburg's original DNA to open the vaults and lay claim to their secrets.

He worked for a few more hours until the machine confirmed success. He took the vaccine gingerly and brought it up to the Director's office personally. After entering, he presented it to her and received congratulations. There was also and implicit favour owed to Rothstein, which he would use wisely in the future. After all, having a Director indebted to him could only come in handy. He had a few favours owed to him by other Directors, and having multiple facets of the entire organization indebted to him was simply delicious.

On the way back to his lab, he had a random fancy to see how the Genetic Architect program was working. They had used the blood samples they took from Rose to try and create an emulation of her. With some changes, of course. They had acquired a total of six new pods, which were human sized. Each one had a variation of Rose's genetics. Three were male and three were female and were all humanoid, though there were some more… monstrous features within both sets. One of the females was developing the large orange pod that the larger flower had developed while one of the males had developed a large maw, slightly reminiscent of a crocodile as well as having four 'stocks' in place of legs. One from both genders were growing leaves on their skin and had vines growing out of their shoulders and winding around their limbs, while the remaining two looked almost completely normal in the way Rose was. However, scans showed that they were much closer to a base human than Rose was, and their muscle strength was comparatively pitiful when held up against other known cross-species.

Those two wouldn't be much help if they sent Rose and the others after Grey, but they could be useful in other ways.

Rothstein checked the machine, which reported that there were a few days left before they could be safely removed from the pods. He ordered cells be prepared for all of them and left to check on the other projects.

Currently, most non-human cross-species were taking longer, but coming up more successful. They weren't really for practical use, but more as proof of concept. Now, if they could uncap the growth limits on one of them, that would be good for practical use. But that wasn't his interest.

After observing a winged bearded dragon that was hunting insects, and a mouse with chameleon skin camouflaging in a desert setting, he went back to his lab to continue unscrambling Yorburg's DNA. It was going to be a long process and he wanted to get into those vaults as soon as possible.

* * *

Grey kept trying to stop fidgeting in his pockets, but he was just too antsy to not. He was currently waiting at the airport for his family and friends to enter the lobby after their flight. It was about 8 in the morning and the flight had landed a couple of minutes ago, so they were probably grabbing their luggage or still getting off the plane.

After a couple more minutes, he saw them coming up the escalator and hurried over to greet them. Until he was hit with a whopping hug from the twins. After managing to pry himself loose from the death grip of love, he escorted them to a private gate and led them to a helipad where a Monarch helicopter was waiting. Taking a moment to enjoy their gobsmacked faces, he boarded the helicopter and waited for them to do the same. The helicopter immediately took off for a landing pad near the facility, but not on the official grounds. Once they landed, they hauled their luggage to a pair of vans that drove them to the resort they would all be staying at. Grey was staying with them too since everyone staying at a hotel while he was sleeping in his quarters back at Monarch would have just felt weird.

The beginning of the day was spent getting settled and getting the jet lag out of their systems before heading down to the pool. Grey's parents didn't quite feel comfortable letting them in the ocean today, so they stuck to the pool. Grey had learned some time ago that his gills shouldn't be used in chlorinated water, so he stuck to holding his breath. However, his eyesight was much better underwater than his guests and he could hold his breath much longer.

And so, the day was spent swimming, sunning themselves and just having a good time. Later, they all went inside and dried off while Grey ordered pizza for everyone. Needless to say, everyone loved it. He was seriously considering making one day of the week a pizza night. Afterwards, they all watched movies on the TV before calling room service to bring up some snacks. Grey's new metabolism occasionally turned him into a bottomless pit. As it was, he had a jumbo plate of cheese covered nachos all to himself and was considering ordering another.

Soon, the sun began to set and the group separated into their own rooms. Grey was sleeping by himself, as was Jessica. Tobi and Max were sharing a room and Grey's family was in a deluxe room with two single beds and a queen size for his parents. Soon, everyone was sound asleep. The next week was going to be fun.

* * *

Rose sat on her cot, deep in thought. She still couldn't sense them. They had been their since she could remember and now she couldn't hear them. Where had they gone? She had sensed panic for a brief moment before absence, triggering her own anxiety and fear. Then she was in this strange place. Others kept coming to see her, saying strange things to her and encouraging her when she understood what they were saying, but when she questioned where 'they' were, they never answered. Did they not understand her?

It was saddening. Ever since 'they' had disappeared, she had felt an absence that was constantly there, always reminding her that 'they' were gone. Where were 'they'?

* * *

Rothstein examined the screen curiously. The probes were picking up signals from the brain, indicating a negative wave. Now that he thought about it, that wave form had always been an underlying presence since they implanted the probes, but it hadn't been nearly as pronounced as it was now. It must have been growing slowly as time went on. He called doctor Misaki and requested she examine the results and give her two cents on them.

"Well, this pattern is reminiscent of a wave form we've observed in people who are grieving, but it doesn't match up completely, even if her physiology isn't 100% human. It's entirely possible she feels this loss, but doesn't understand the feeling or why she's feeling it. Perhaps facial recognition can pull something. I'll be sure to observe her behaviour with this in mind. Thanks for bringing it to my attention."

Rothstein nodded and went back to observing doctor Trill, who had just walked in. There was the positive spike.

Today, Trill was going to be using specific exercises to try and encourage Rose to properly speak. The hope was that it would be the pebbles that start an avalanche, since she exhibited clear ability to understand spoken language and non-verbal communication.

Then, they would begin to educate her on the enemy.

 **So yeah, I like this chapter. I also kinda wanted to hint more at how Rose and Biollante are siblings and how they were in some form of contact/communication before Biollante was transferred.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, that would be one hell of a family photo.**

 **Author: Still wouldn't top that one you have.**

 **Creativity: The horror…**

 **Author: Yeah… Jeez that was a lot of snakes.**

 **Anyway, see ya next week!**


	25. Lazy days and Delegations

**And so we continue!**

 **So, by the time this goes up, it will be reading week where I go to college. In addition to the large amount of studying I will be putting in, I will also be working on continuing to bulk up the backlog for the story. Right now, I'm barely keeping pace since the courses are more challenging now (I'm studying electrical engineering, though I have been told by a few people that I should try to write a book. I SCOFF AT YOU! Though I do sincerely thank you for the compliment. However, this is not what I consider to be book writing skill. Yet), So I have to devote more time to that.**

 **BUT I SHALT NOT ADMIT DEFEAT!**

 **Creativity: YEAH!**

 **Author: You're late.**

 **Creativity: Public transit.**

 **Author: Fair enough.**

 **Now, where was I? Oh yes! I am not going to miss a Sunday if I can help it. I am confident I can keep up this pace and have chapters ready for when exam season hits. There'll probably be a slowdown in completed chapters from March to the middle of April since that's the period of times between midterms and exams, but If everything goes according to plan, I'll have more than enough chapters to last us through that dry spell.**

 **Alright, enough. Enjoy chapter 23!**

 **P.S.**

 **I know that that the number says 25, but that's because of the two-part Halloween special. Stop bugging me about that.**

* * *

Grey was still grinning as they left the Vancouver Aquarium. It was the third day of his vacation with his friends and family and so far, it was going terrifically. Yesterday they had gone to a large suspension bridge that had a large network of platforms in between the trees. They spent the day exploring there before heading back into the city to find a good place for dinner. They ended up eating at a seafood restaurant before heading back to the hotel to watch a movie before heading to bed early.

Today's visit to the aquarium had also been great. They had spent hours looking at every exhibit and were now heading out to have lunch in the surrounding park. After that, they were going to head back to the hotel to spend the rest of the day at the beach.

The food they had brought along was pretty typical picnic food. Sandwiches, soda, a few assorted veggies and some dessert. After they finished eating, Grey and his friends lounged around, chatting and cracking a few jokes about how Grey should volunteer as a temporary exhibit at the aquarium at some point.

"Though seriously, if someone sincerely asks me to do that, I will clock them over the head and punt them out of the building." Grey stated before they got up and started packing up everything they had brought with them before heading back to the rental vans that Monarch had dropped off for them.

They drove back to the hotel and they spent a few hours swimming on the ocean. Grey stuck close the twins at all times. The beach wasn't too crowded and he spent most of his time in the water, giving him an opportunity to use his gills. They itched like crazy when he wasn't underwater, but that didn't stop him from coming up to keep up appearances.

He especially enjoyed body surfing when he wasn't keeping an eye on the twins. He even had a competition with Max, Tobi and Jessica to see who could make it the furthest on the same wave. Grey pulled a close second to Jessica, which led to pokes and prods about him throwing the competition so as not to appear as though he was showing off. He suspected he would be teased about that for a while.

He took an extra fifteen minutes to swim a bit deeper, checking out a few fish and other critters. He suspected for a moment that he saw a shark, but it was just a larger fish in the distance. After he was done with swimming, he went back up to the hotel with everyone else, keeping his gills covered with a towel. He would need to flush them out before turning back to normal, otherwise he would have an itch he couldn't scratch. After taking a shower to rinse the saltwater off his body and out of his gills, he returned to normal and met everyone in the deluxe room for dinner. They ordered food from the hotel restaurant through room service and settled in for another movie.

Grey felt great, being able to have this vacation without having an air of unrest surrounding him. Things were looking up.

* * *

Rothstein grunted in frustration as he fiddled with a few dials on his 'de-splicer'. Yorburg's polluted and tangled DNA was proving more difficult to unravel than he had initially anticipated. He had known that this was going to be an extremely difficult task, but it was proving to be more vexing than he had ever imagined. Still, he would persevere. He wanted what was in those vaults, even if it took him years, he would crack that damn vault.

It had been a couple of days since he had checked on the G-A's current batch, so he set the machine to standby mode and left to clear his mind and take a look at the project. Along the way, he bumped into doctor Misaki, who was on her way to another session with Rose. They had recently switched to a new set of exercises and lessons that were specifically designed to encourage her to speak. It was still only theoretical, but the doctor seemed very confident. Or perhaps desperate, since the Director wanted her to be able to function as a human being when they presented her to the other directors. They hadn't yet revealed Rose's existence to any other Director, sans the one that they had entrusted the other creature to, and it was undoubted that just as his current Director had eyes and ears in other facilities, so did other Directors have their own eyes in ears in this one. And they did not want the news to be broken before they were ready.

After bidding the doctor farewell and good luck, he continued on to the G-A lab. The subjects inside the pods looked to be just about ready. In fact, according to the machine, they would be ready for transportation in only a few hours! He sent word to his technicians to prepare holding pens for them. Perhaps make them a bit more… natural this time. He had been considering proposing that they add some foliage to Rose's own cell. Perhaps it would create an environment that would be more stimulating for her, perhaps encourage her to learn quicker.

Then it occurred to him. What exactly were they going to do about their new additions? Were they going to be like Rose was at the beginning? She had essentially been a newborn in an adolescent body, even taking her rapidly developing mind into account. Having to repeat that with six others who were created from a template based on her DNA was not encouraging. Working with them all together would be needlessly stressful and working with them one on one would take too long.

He supposed that, should push come to shove, they could always divide the class into pairs or sets of three. Plus, they would have data from Rose that they could use to create a more efficient teaching and training program.

That was another thing they hadn't addressed with any one the cross-species they had created, Rose included. They needed training for when they went on the offensive again. Or defensive. Now that the world knew that they existed, it would only be a matter of time before one of their installations was discovered. And when one of the was found, it would be foolish to bet against that damn Grey kid leading the charge. And now, according to reports, he had a few other cross-species to back him up. He had single handedly taken down over half their armed guards and basically killed Yorburg after the man went and pumped an untested, completely unstable mutagen into himself. Rothstein had just put him out of his misery.

Rothstein rubbed his temples as he started considering the problems that were piling up. Despite his ability to multitask, he was starting to miss important details and they were going to cost him and the rest of this base. Especially when those costs started to add up. He needed to start delegating some of this to others if he was to keep on top of things and succeed in pulling Yorburg's human DNA from the mess it was in now.

But who could he entrust these the progress and security of his projects to? Certainly no one on this base was intelligent, diligent and trustworthy enough to even consider contacting, and he certainly had no interest in hunting down old colleagues who owed him a favour or two for the sole purpose of easing he workload.

Perhaps though, he was overthinking it a tad. Maybe he should start fresh. Find someone who had no involvement in the upper reaches of this organization. He could always look for someone on the ground level who had decent management skills and enough scientific expertise to understand and record information about his projects for him.

Or he could find someone even more green. All he needed to do was peruse the latest reports they had on potential recruits, straight out of university and looking to begin their careers. If he could commandeer one of their external labs and get everything set up for the plant cross-species specifically, then he would just need to find one or two graduates with their shiny new doctorates to present with a once in a lifetime opportunity and he would have Rose and the others taken care of, while he could continue to experiment with the G-A machine.

Yes, that would do. Now he just had to make a few phone calls.

* * *

 _Two days later_

Grey yawned as he looked up at the ceiling of his hotel room. Today was a low-key day for them. Yesterday, they had gone back to the suspension bridge and taken a tram up the mountain to go zip-lining. Luckily, no one had a fear of heights, which would have put a damper on thinks since a few of the lines went between mountains.

Once they had finished with that, they explored the rest of the tourist attraction before heading back down the mountain.

Since they had enjoyed a few more active days, they decided to take one to recharge and relax. The twins were currently watching TV, Jessica was still asleep, Max and Tobi were playing video games and his parents were down in the hotel lobby.

Grey looked up from his spot on the couch. The twins were splayed out on the couch, both looking like they were about to nod off. He got up and stretched before walking over to the door that divided the two rooms and pulled it open, walking over to see what Max and Tobi were playing. They were playing a fighting game that Tobi was absolutely destroying Max at. Seriously, it was almost a little painful to watch.

It was at this point that the door to Jessica's room creaked open and she peaked her head through. It was obvious that she had just hauled herself out of bed. Her hair was dishevelled, she was still in her PJ's and her eyes were still squinting due to the light. She immediately retreated back into her room while Grey sat down on the couch and grabbed a controller. They switched to a racing game and played a few rounds before Jessica came back out, having properly woken up and gone about her morning rituals… in the afternoon. They ordered some food through room service before Jessica took Grey's controller while he went to check on the twins. Sure enough, they had indeed nodded off. He came back to find the tables had turned and now Max was humiliating Tobi. Right up until the last corner of the last lap, when Jessica snatched victory right out from under Max's nose. Max and Grey said nothing for a few moments before Grey burst out laughing. And he kept laughing until his sides hurt. Tobi joined him not too long after he started and stopped shortly after. Grey watched a few more rounds before the food showed up. The selection of the hour was iced tea, nachos, extra cheese dip for said nachos, a small assortment of veggies with dip, and breadsticks. Grey still wasn't exactly sure why they had ordered breadsticks with nachos, but didn't question it.

Opting to not get food or grease on the controllers, they switched to watching TV while setting the food down on the coffee table. Grey immediately started attacking the nachos while the others started with the breadsticks.

"Seriously, what's with you and the nachos?" Jessica asked. Grey supposed it was a rather recent thing, him ordering nachos more often than not.

"Guess I just suddenly like nachos." Grey responded before devouring an extra cheesy nacho. He reclined as they watched a B-grade monster movie come on. To which Grey immediately became dead-pan silent and unresponsive to. There was a hurried rush to change the channel until they found a different movie. They didn't quite know what it was, but it wasn't something that Grey would likely take an offence or some other umbrage with. They watched that all the way through before the twins wandered into the room, rubbing their eyes. They switched back to video games and started playing an exploration game for an hour before Grey's parents came back to the room. By this point it was dinner time and everyone was still hungry, despite the rather sizable snack they had enjoyed not too long ago. They decided to order sushi today, though since the twins weren't very fond of sushi they ordered them a pizza. Once the food arrived, Grey immediately began attacking his order. His order consisted entirely of seafood based sushi, owing to the fact that sushi was one of his favourite seafood dishes.

After the meal, Grey lounged around in his room while and let the food settle before going for a walk by himself. His walk took him around the resort before stopping in front of the ocean to watch the sun set. He sat by himself for a while before heading back up to the room to watch it with everyone else on the balcony. It wasn't the end of the vacation, but this was probably the peak of it.

* * *

Rothstein walked through the three-story building that would be serving as his new outlet of study. The Hub, the central installation where the Prime Director kept a watchful eye over the whole organization had constructed this building some time ago, waiting for someone to submit an application for its use. Most people who were of the stature within the organization to apply were leery to do so, since being a surface location, it was much easier for someone to stumble upon it. Better to perform their more "risky" or "controversial" experiments in the safety of obscurity, be it within the ocean, deep underground, within mountains or near the Earth's two poles.

They kept them staffed and used covers for the installations, be it offices for businesses, external labs for large corporate entities, or other such misdirecting titles. This one was a lab internally and externally, but the experiments performed within were not the kind that everyone thought they were. The company in question, Neo-Gen, was a genetics company that specialized in plants, trying to breed plants capable of growing in much more inhospitable locations. That was the cover anyway, and that was the experimentation that went on in the outer shell. However, the building was designed with a massive "box" in the middle, which had security that made the D.O.D. look like chumps! Within this box was where they performed the real work, and it was within this box that Rothstein had arranged for large holding cells to be prepared, as well as a massive environment that connected to the pens, which was filled with all sorts of plants. Non-threatening of course, but there was a staggering diversity of green life within the central pen. In addition to this, there was a massive area set aside specifically for strengthening the cross-species bodies and minds. Doctors Trill and Misaki had already been transferred to continue their work, as well as a new team member. Doctor Lark was a biologist, specializing in plant life, who also had a doctorate in psychology. Needless to say, Rothstein was ecstatic to have her on the team. The initial invitation had been rejected since she was convinced that the cross-species would not last more than a week or two, but having been proven wrong had decided to reconsider.

Lastly, Rothstein wanted to get his new assistants. He more considered them to be apprentices or trainees, but assistants were the official title they would be getting.

Lastly, Rothstein had called in one special favour to acquire a new piece of technology that allowed him to adjust his physical appearance in a few small ways. Since he was now a wanted man, due to Monarch releasing an official list of all known members of the organization to the UN, he had to keep his presence as unnoticed as possible. For those purposes, he slipped the device on (Which looked like a headband) and adjusted his appearance. His skin took on a more tanned appearance, he now had a moustache and a few lines on his face vanished.

As for his name, he would now be known as Dr. Royston Parks, an accomplished geneticist and prestigious member of Neo-Gen. His fake credentials and 'history' had already been slipped into official records, so he wouldn't have to worry about anyone getting suspicious.

Rothstein opened a list of candidates he intended to interview for the positions he was making available. He wanted three assistants. He'd be working with them personally in rotation, while the two he wasn't working with would observe the projects he was working on.

His list was rather broad, but visiting the candidates would thin it out considerably. His criteria was a bit standard, but with one crucial 'make or break' stipulation. They needed to have the stomach for his work. If they didn't have the spine to do the sort of work they were doing, then they would be of no use to him.

He stood up and made sure his business suit was straight before picking up a briefcase and heading out to his car. Time for his first interviews.

 **So yeah, the plant cross-species are moving topside. Vacation's almost over for Grey and soon it will be back to work.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, hopefully it'll get more interesting soon.**

 **Author: That was borderline spoilers. Watch it.**

 **Creativity: Watching it, sir!**

 **Author: So, this one took a bit longer to finish than expected, but I feel it turned out well.**

 **Next time, we'll catch up with Rothstein and his interviews. As well as other stuff that I WILL NOT MENTION HERE!**

 **See ya next week!**


	26. The Calling

**Hmmm… what do I add now… Lets see. I think we need a bit of this, and a little of that, and THIS! AND THAT AND THAT AND THIS! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!**

 **Creativity: Oh no, not again… Boss, I know you like the new studio cauldron, but you're slipping into maniacal laughter more often than usual.**

 **Author: When did you come in?**

 **Creativity: Five minutes ago. Oh, and the readers are waiting.**

 **Author: … oh.**

 **I'd like to apologize for… that. So, this week, we continue with the interviews as well as getting Rose to actually get up and do… something. Maybe. Seriously, I don't know why I've dragged out her just sitting around and looking at dirt for so long.**

 **So, without further ado, I present chapter 24!**

 **P.S. This is directed to any and all who like to ask me questions through reviews, but I'm going to call out someone out specifically here. Clare Prime of Ultra, I cannot answer your questions if you keep PMs blocked. I fully understand why one would not want PMs enabled, since the internet can be inhabited by some nasty little shits, but it makes me irrationally angry when I try to communicate with my readership and I am barred from it. I don't answer questions in this opening bit because I just don't like doing that, and because what I may or may not share could be information that other people don't want to know yet. I am not asking you to stop with questions, just maybe open up a private avenue of communication maybe. I like conversing with readers one on one and it irrationally irritates me when I can't. I am a weird person. A very, very weird person.**

 **We now return to your regularly scheduled chapter.**

* * *

Rothstein smiled to himself as he watched the potential hires approaching the building. There were four individuals, all from Harvard who he was interviewing today. All of them had GPAs of 4.0 or higher, were noted for their ambition, and showed specific promise in genetics. All of them had their doctorates already and one had even written their thesis on cross-species genetics! They had walked a very fine line when they wrote it, but the thesis committee had accepted it all the same. There were probably a few people on the committee that worked within the organization.

He waited patiently as the first candidate entered his office. He was a bit on the shorter side, but with a stocky build. He had short, sandy hair and small, almost beady eyes. He swiftly sat down in the offered chair and Rothstein slipped on a pair of glasses. They were purely cosmetic, but the candidate, Derwin Fletcher his name was, wouldn't know that.

"So, Mr. Fletcher… studied at Harvard, PHD in neurobiology and majoring in nuclear physics and a dabbling in genetics, top honors. What sort of research would you bring to our company?"

Derwin sat in a relaxed, comfortable, yet still professional position with a hint of a smirk playing on his lips.

"Well, I had begun my studies with the intention of studying the effects of nuclear radiation on neurons, though I had to wonder why Neo-Gen was interested in me, considering my primary fields of study."

Rothstein smiled.

"Well, I have begun work on a new project that your background could lend a unique perspective to. You see, with the emergence of these prehistoric creatures that feed on ionizing radiation, we thought it possible to breed a plant that can do so similarly. One of our sister companies managed to acquire DNA from one of these creatures, which they have been using to engineer creatures with similar capabilities, in terms of radiation consumption that is."

Derwin cocked his head.

"Didn't the UN declare the practice of cross-species genetics illegal?"

Rothstein shook his head.

"No, they declared the human experimentation of cross-species genetics illegal. Do you really think that they'd be able to keep anyone from pursuing this? The science is revolutionary and there are many laboratories and large companies who have invested great interest in the concept, even ignoring the amount of money they've put into its research. Even if the UN did try to outlaw it, every government worth its salt would be foolish to not be working on something related to the field."

Derwin conceded the point.

"So, what does that have to do with me? As flattered as I am by your consideration, it seems a bit strange that you would be looking for a neurobiologist for a project involving genetically engineered plants."

Rothstein leaned forward a bit.

"We'll get into those details later. Now then…"

Rothstein interviewed Derwin for a little while longer before dismissing him. It was a few more minutes before he sent for his next candidate. Her name was Amelia Grell. She was another doctor from Harvard, albeit more recent. Her thesis had been the one on cross-species genetics, making her immediately the top candidate for Rothstein. Added to that was the fact that she had PHDs in both biology, psychology and nuclear physics, and she was a prime candidate. Plus, the fact that she had done her thesis on cross-species genetics meant she had the stomach for the job.

Amelia walked into the room. She was rather tall, about 5.8, with pale skin, green eyes and red hair. She immediately took the offered seat, back straight. Rothstein went through the interview very slowly, relaxed. He had practically made up his mind already before she had even walked in the door, so this was little more than a formality.

He still wasn't completely forthcoming about the details of what the project would entail. At least, not yet. While he hadn't done any personal scouting in a very long time, he had seen those who were offered positions that led to the organization before and she had all the telltale signs.

Once he was finished interviewing Amelia, he conducted two more interviews before taking a break to consider who he was going to hire, outside of Amelia of course.

Derwin was a safe bet. He was ambitious enough for it and had the stomach too. However, he would have to be kept under surveillance. He also had the hallmarks of being a snitch.

That left one more person. He opted to choose one of the candidates he had interviewed before Derwin. Specifically, an internship offer he had put out for a geneticist dealing in flora specifically. He ended up selecting one Camilla Jones, who was currently studying at Stanford university. Camilla was rather short, about 5.4, with a dark tan and short black hair.

Having made his choices, he opted to wait a few days before calling his new hires back to inform them of their new positions. In the meantime, he opted to see Rose and her 'siblings' were adapting to their new surroundings.

Rose was currently in the Terrarium, as the staff had begun to refer to the large, plant-filled central room as. She was exploring it with innocent curiosity. Soon enough, she was encouraged back into her pen, which now had grass growing in it, was well as a tree in the corner and a few bushes. She definitely seemed to take to her new surroundings better then the loose soil and stones they had in her previous pen. Misaki and Trill were both very excited because Rose had begun to actively try to speak with them, though she was still struggling with forming a single word. It actually seemed to be a source of frustration for her, since they'd see her trying to speak when she was alone and failures prompted a surge of activity in her brain that indicated disappointment or some other negative response.

Well, she was at least progressing better than her 'siblings'. They were very cautious of anyone who entered the room and even displayed some hostility to members of the team on occasion. In particular, it was the ones that showed the most biological promise. The 'pick' experiments, in a matter of speaking. The two that had showed the least initial promise were much more timid, but they had yet to act out and they were starting to approach Misaki and Trill more. Dr. Lark was working with the middle ones, who mainly kept away, trying to hide behind foliage or otherwise maintaining distance until she left. However, they were starting to respond to her attempts at communication. During the most recent session, they had even come out of hiding and mimicked a few hand gestures. It certainly seemed that keeping them paired off had some benefits. They were certainly learning at a greater pace then Rose was.

Perhaps they should arrange for the family to meet.

* * *

Grey sighed with relief as he got into the Monarch car that was waiting outside for him. He had just left a meeting between Monarch and an environmentalist group who wanted to acquire Monarch's radiation absorption technology for the purposes of cleaning up areas where there had been nuclear disasters. While Grey had thought about that application for the technology before, it simply wasn't ready yet. As it was, the bracelet he was wearing to do just that went through seven storage cartridges a day! And this was the latest version. There was a total of ten cartridges on a bracelet, and each one contained enough atomic energy to render three floors of the building uninhabitable with the initial blast, to say nothing of the time afterwards. So, they gently rejected the offer. That had lead to some passive aggressive back and forth that just made Grey want to stand up, break the table in half and walk out. Thankfully, Graham gave them a dressing down of what could happen if they went in without developing the technology further. And it was immensely satisfying to watch the environmentalists slowly shrinking backwards in the chairs and looking progressively more ashamed.

Grey wasn't quite sure why he had to be there for a couple of these meetings, though Graham said that since he was the acting ambassador for cross-species, and that this technology was being developed further by an organization completely dedicated to cross-species research and support, he had to be there as a witness, for lack of a better word.

Whatever. Right now, he was more concerned by the fact that he had started to experience a small tug in his brain. It was similar to the instinct that drew him towards Godzilla, but it felt inexplicably different. It had started a few hours ago, faintly. At first, he thought it was a daydream, but as the pull waxed stronger, he realized that it was very real and very concerning.

As soon as they got back to Monarch and away from any potential eavesdroppers, Grey immediately sought out Graham to inform her of his instincts kicking in again.

"There hasn't been any trace of Godzilla resurfacing, and you never felt this pull from any other Kaiju other than Godzilla, correct?" Graham questioned. Grey shook his head.

"No. That's what worries me. What would be causing my homing sense to start acting up now, if not Godzilla?"

Grey shook his head and went down to the pool for a quick dip, then went and met with the other cross-species for pizza night. It had become a weekly tradition for them to get pizza on Friday and today was the day. He drove into town and picked up the order before meeting everyone in the room they had commandeered for pizza night. Grey spent a good portion of the night venting his annoyances about dealing with the people at these meetings, since most of them appeared to have their hearts in the right place but were way to eager to jump the gun, wanted their tech and were passive aggressive when they didn't get their way, or just capital jackasses who demanded something related to cross-species, be it a 'request' for manual labor or assistance in handling radioactive materials, or whatever they wanted that they decided to go for the new guys.

"Seriously, they know I'm there and can snap the table in half with one hand, right?" He asked, to laughter.

Now, he understood the logic of getting people who were naturally stronger than the average human being or were basically immune to the effects of ionizing radiation, but the ways they asked seemed more like they were trying to hire someone's work horses.

Soon enough the pizza was finished off and they cleaned everything up as best they could so that the janitors wouldn't lose it. Grey went up to his room and surfed the web for a bit, deciding to check out a few of the conspiracy theory sites he had found in the first few days at Monarch. The original posts regarding the blurry pictures of Grey had a bunch of new posts about the newly confirmed story. Now, there were a bunch of new theories that the reveal was all just false information, meant to distract us from other, larger conspiracy. Grey rolled his eyes before shutting it all down and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow, he was going to be aiding in an investigation of potential stolen weapons from last year's San Francisco incident. Since the guns were powered by ionizing radiation, they wanted Grey to help them identify if they existed, and tracking them down in the event that they did. Jordan from Ford's security team would he joining him, as well as Sabrina. She had been interested in actively working with Monarch's branch company for a while now, and when she had been approached about this job, she had barely thought for a second before agreeing.

Grey yawned and slipped under the covers. Enough thinking. He had a long day tomorrow and he would need his rest.

* * *

The next day, Grey got up much more alert than usual. He had strange dreams last night. There was some sort of strange orange glow that was perpetually floating in the infinite blackness. He kept feeling a question coming from it, but it didn't come in words. It was like it was calling for something, questioning where that something was, but in no words. It was strange, to say the least. Especially with his tracking instinct having mysteriously turned back on with no reason to have done so.

Shaking his head, he got up and went about his morning rituals before heading to the heli-pad. Jordan was already there and Sabrina wasn't far behind. Graham provided them each with briefcases containing their gauntlets and headsets, and they climbed aboard the copter.

The flight to San-Francisco was uneventful, but the view when they got there was a sore reminder. There was still much damage that had yet to be repaired, and much of the area where Grey had battled the detachment of cross-species and tanks was still gouged and scorched. Graham had informed him that much of the radiation had completely dissipated and what hadn't been had been absorbed by Monarch, though the prototype devices they had used to do so had short-circuited not long afterwards.

They touched down at a large camp outside of the city, where they were immediately met by a group of the local police, as well as a few soldiers. They led them into a tent where there were several men and women working around a large map. One of the men approached them and introduced himself as lieutenant Jackson.

"Last week, we were investigating a weapons exchange in one of the destroyed buildings in the city." Jackson began.

"It was just a bunch of lowlifes, but they were selling some of those radiation guns you guys confiscated a year ago. We busted the lot of them and got the guns, but we still don't know how many of them are out there."

After Jackson was finished speaking, Grey and Sabrina popped open their briefcases and pulled their gear out.

"We need to see the guns." Jordan stated, prompting Jackson to order a soldier to bring out a pair of the standard issue rifles. Grey and Sabrina activated their headsets, activating a new scan function. They could isolate and catalogue radiation of a specific frequency and pattern based on it's container, then use the various scan modes to hunt for a match. Jordan had his own version of the headset, though it was less sleek than their own and covered both his eyes.

As night fell, they made their way into the city and began searching. Grey had his HUD set to an advanced night vision setting, while Sabrina had opted for a new setting. It used ionizing radiation and other data the headset collected to create an AR display. Jordan was using traditional night vision.

They split off and worked their way through the crumbling sections of San-Francisco for hours until Sabrina radioed in that she had come across two people who had matching signatures in a duffle bag. Grey and Jordan immediately made their way over to her and they tailed the two mystery men until they ducted into a run down old warehouse. They snuck inside through the back and made their way up, watching from the top of an old security booth.

Sure enough, three more men entered the warehouse. All three of them were dressed in crisp suits. One was obviously in charge, while the other two were probably bodyguards.

Grey used the zoom function on his headset to get a good look at the lead man. He was rather beefy and had thin hair, a sparse moustache and beady eyes. After making sure he had some good images of their mystery man, they began preparing to make their move.

The two thugs opened the duffle bag and withdrew two of the guns before shooting at the walls, to prove they were genuine before turning back to their apparent buyer, waiting for their payment. The man opened a briefcase, revealing a large amount of money. The man shut the case and handed the money to the first thug while the bodyguards collected the guns. As they turned to leave, the second thug dropped and pulled a third gun from the duffle bag! He immediately opened fire on the man and the bodyguards, who began running for the exit! Lucky for the buyers, the thug was a really lousy shot, not helped by the fact that the guns had more kick than the thug was experienced with. Grey and Sabrina both leapt from the booth and slammed into a thug each. Sabrina was quick to subdue her thug after dislocating his shoulder and knocking him unconscious, while Grey socked his in the stomach before grabbing him and swinging him over his shoulder and into the ground, knocking the wind out of the thug before finishing him off with a punch to the forehead.

They dragged the thugs out of the city and back to the camp before giving them a thorough questioning. As it turned out, there had been many more weapons missing than they had initially thought. Many of them had been stolen from the grounds shortly after the battle ended and stashed in the sections of the city declared to be too dangerous to enter. The weapons quickly became big things to have in the criminal underworld and the people who had stashed the weapons found themselves making huge paydays. Then, about three months ago, an anonymous buyer put out word that they were buying as many of these guns as they could get at a generous price, and had been acquiring them left and right.

Last night, they tried to get the money and keep the guns so they could sell them to someone else. Needless to say, that had ended badly.

Grey and Sabrina kept the fact that they had photos of the buyer secret before departing, knowing that the information would inevitably lead to the covering of tracks. Best keep it close to the vest until Monarch could give them some hard information.

Once they arrived back at Monarch, Grey and Sabrina immediately turned the data over to Sam before heading to the cafeteria. The rest of the gang was there already, waiting for them. As they had dinner, the others asked Sabrina how her first day on the job was, if this was the sort of work she would keep with, what it was like to be out of the facility after so long, and other things related to the day's work. After the meal was done, everyone went their separate ways. Grey and Sabrina both went back to their rooms and went straight to sleep. The last two days had been more active than rest of Grey's work days, so he was much more tired. And sleep deprived. After giving his family a phone call and texting his friends a bit, he put the phone down and fell asleep.

* * *

Three hours later, he suddenly jerked awake, his eyes darting about. He had dreamt of the strange orange light again. It was much more clear this time, and seemed to be more solid, and have some sort of frame around it. The same 'question' was repeated over and over, like the last time, but this time he could feel the desperation in it. What was happening to him?!

 **And so, we end chapter 24! So, Biollante is calling out for someone. I wonder who that could be? HMMMMMMMMMM…**

 **Creativity: It's not like it's a big mystery.**

 **Author: Who cares? Also, to quickly address something that a certain someone asked? The two roses that became Rose and Biollante weren't going to be mates. That's fairly obvious now, but whatever. That would have been incest.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, that's the only weird thing about that concept.**

 **Author: Secondly, there will be pseudo communication between Grey and other Kaiju, but not really. It's more like he can glean 'intent' from them or 'feelings', based on the radiation they emit. Now, with Biollante, it's going to be more complex and there can be rudimentary communication through radiation, but not spoken word.**

 **Creativity: Seems more accurate than Godzilla speaking in full sentences.**

 **Author: Yeah, what the heck was I smoking when I had that idea?**

 **I don't actually smoke anything, for the record.**

 **See ya next week!**


	27. The Secret's out (Almost)

**GET BACK HERE!**

 **IT'S GETTING AWAY! BAR THE DOORS!**

 **Author: Oh, hello there. We're currently experiencing some difficulties in the studio… ACK! GET AWAY FROM THERE! But it isn't anything we can't handle.**

 **Creativity: I TOLD YOU TO STOP MESSING WITH THE STUDIO CAULDRON! WHAT SANE PERSON PUTS WOLVERINE HAIRS, KOMODO DRAGON CLAW AND HUMMING BIRD FEATHERS INTO THIS INFERNAL THING!?**

 **Author: IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME, OK! JUST TRANQ IT AND CALL THE SERVICE DESK!**

 **Please enjoy chapter 25 while we deal with this mess. Thank you. NONONONONO! STAY AWAY FROM THE SODA FOUNTAIN!**

* * *

Grey yawned as he sat in one of the smaller conference rooms at Monarch. He and Sabrina were waiting for Graham, Ford and Sam to join them. Sam had called all of them, saying that they had a lead on who was busy acquiring all those guns from last year's attempted invasion.

Soon enough, Graham and Ford arrived, followed a few minutes later by Sam. Sam immediately synced up a tablet to the projector and brought up several images.

"We ran facial recognition through every database we have access to and got a match."

He tapped on the tablet's screen, causing the image of the buyer from a week ago to enlarge, as well as several other images of him in different settings.

"His names Michael Spitzer. He works for a company called Neo-Gen. It's privately run and deals in genetics, specifically flora. Based on what I can find, he's the one they send to negotiate deals for the acquisition of new equipment, specialized material or private funding."

"Anything we can use?" Grey asked.

"No, his record is spotless. Neo-Gen doesn't have any dirt yet either. Nothing proved, anyway. There's a lot of speculation that they acquire samples for study through the black market, but that's something that comes up a lot with genetics companies, and there is never enough evidence to prove that they are using illegal methods. Plus, they have a small army of lawyers in standby to render any and all investigations a very ill-conceived venture." Sam replied, his lips pursed with annoyance.

Grey massaged his temples to keep himself from getting to annoyed.

"So, we're stuck."

Sam shook his head.

"Not quite. If Neo-Gen is sending their best negotiator to acquire illegal weaponry from an abandoned warzone, then they must be up to something. Why would a genetics company specializing in flora want to get their hands on those gamma guns? My bet is that they're a shell company for the ones who started all this. Which means, that they're probably hiding something big in Neo-Gen."

Sam tapped a few times on the tablet and a large 3D image of a building replaced the images of Mr. Spitzer.

"I managed to track down the architect of Neo-Gen's latest laboratory. Apparently, he had been requested to design the building with a large 'quarantine zone' in the middle of the building, apparently to keep the rest of the building isolated from whatever the hell they're working on in there. According to the architect, it's not uncommon to have something similar in buildings designed for intensive and potentially dangerous lab work. Hell, we have a similar setup in this building. However, this quarantine zone takes up over two thirds of the building."

"And he just gave up this information to us?" Sabrina asked. Sam nodded.

"Yeah. Apparently, he was helping design another building for them afterwards, but they screwed him over for some other guy who was gaining popularity. He was real eager to talk after that."

Ford rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Graham had a similar, ponderous expression.

"So, what's our next move?" Graham asked after a while. Grey and Sabrina both looked up to Sam. Sam shook his head.

"I don't know. All have is a name, a face, and something to link them to illegal weapons acquisition, not to mention suspicious architecture. That's not enough to mount an investigation. We'll keep digging until we have enough to make a case against them. Until then, just keep your eyes peeled in the field. Our sources inside other companies report them doing work that's borderline cross-species. And Neo-Gen is one of the few we haven't managed to get inside."

Grey shook his head.

"Seriously, what are those guys thinking? There's humans who have the DNA of building-sized monsters spliced in with their own! We need more of that! Even though the UN has declared it illegal!" Grey briefly ranted before regaining his composure. The others seemed to share his sentiment, even if they hadn't had an outburst like his. Yet, anyway.

"Well, if everything's been cleared up, I'm going to go keep looking into Neo-Gen. See if I can find any other connections to the criminal underworld." Sam stated as he started walking out of the room. Ford started out with him, grabbing his shoulder on the way out.

"Be careful about it. If these guys are as deeply ingrained in the world as we think, they may be on to us already." Ford cautioned. Sam jokingly rolled his eyes.

"You worry to much, dad." He remarked before walking out, followed by Ford. Grey and Sabrina soon followed and Graham left shortly afterwards. Today, Grey had the day off and was going into Vancouver with a few of his fellow cross-species on that outing they had been talking about for a while. They had visited the town where they got pizza from a few times, but the majority of the resident cross-species hadn't been to the mainland yet, and that would not do for Grey. Not do at all.

They all met near the garage and clamoured into the stretched van that Ford had arranged to take them to the port.

"So, what's the first thing we want to do when we reach the city?" Grey asked. It felt strange to be leading what felt a bit like a field trip.

"Food." Was the majority response.

"Alright, food it is. Anyone have any suggestions?" Grey asked. It was very quickly not a majority situation.

"Okay, considering we get pizza every week, lets discount that from the discussion. Now, what's everyone's second choice?"

* * *

Rothstein stood in the foyer of Neo-Gen, waiting for his new assistants to arrive. Amelia was the first to arrive, followed soon after by Camilla. Derwin arrive a few minutes later. Rothstein motioned for them to follow him to the main elevator before heading up to the tenth floor of the building. He then led them to a large lab, where they were doing the work that Neo-Gen claimed to perform. He directed Derwin to the man in charge, who would provide him with his work station as well as what he would be doing precisely for the next few weeks. Rothstein had opted to give him a sort of 'trial' to test his resolve, as well as whether or not he could be trusted. Camilla would be given a similar sort of test, though it was more to test her stomach. Amelia would be introduced to the main project today, as well as sworn to secrecy.

He led them to the lab wear Camilla would undergo her own secret test and introduced her to the woman who would help instruct her before leading Amelia to a massive, circular door. He scanned a key card, his fingerprints and his retina before the door opened before he punched in a few numbers.

"We'll get your security clearance taken care of inside." He stated. The door shut and they were doused in a white mist before a pair of lab coats were offered to them by compartments in the wall. After slipping them on, the next door opened and they stepped inside.

"We have rigorous sanitation procedures to ensure that no potential problems are carried in or out by us." Rothstein explained as they walked into the main lab. Amelia was gobsmacked. Rothstein introduced her to some of her new coworkers before leading her to the Terrarium.

"Dr. Parks, this is truly impressive, but what is this setup for?" Amelia inquired.

"In a moment." Rothstein responded before leading her to where some of the more… tame experiments were being performed. She looked like a kid in a candy store.

"I never imagined that this research would have progressed so far in just a year!" She exclaimed as she examined a vine that was starting to take on the appearance of a human hand. There was a time lapse video playing next to it that showed the hand flexing over the course of a day. Rothstein smirked.

"One simply needs to know where to look." He stated, with a hint of bragging to his tone. He then motioned for her to follow him further into the lab, around the terrarium to Rose's pen. When Amelia saw Rose, her jaw dropped and she stared for a few minutes.

"Incredible… How is this possible?" She asked, still in awe.

"In truth, it was an accident. We had spliced human DNA into several roses that were kept in isolated environments to avoid contamination. We suspect they somehow cross-pollinated and this happened." Rothstein explained. Amelia looked like she was about to spontaneously combust with excitement.

"And this, is why we selected you. You will be working with doctors Trill, Misaki and Lark on the human/rose hybrids. Dr. Trill is waiting for you in lab 3B. She'll get you up to speed. For the next week, you will be shadowing them and they will ensure you are fully prepared to join the team officially."

Amelia nodded eagerly and immediately departed for the indicated laboratory. Rothstein turned on his heel and strode away, heading for his personal lab. He'd be working with all three of his new hires personally next week. For now, he needed them to become established here. Particularly Amelia, who would be doing the most hands-on work with the cross-species. Once he felt Derwin and Camilla were ready, he'd have Derwin join the team performing in-depth analyses of their DNA, while Camilla would be working with him more directly with the Genetic Architect technology. More specifically, he wanted her to study the flora-based creations that came from the project. Intermixed with that would be instruction on how to operate the Genetic Architect technology, as well as reading the diagnostics that the machine provided for it's creations. Once he was confident in her ability to operate the machinery, he would give her permission to begin designing creatures herself.

Soon he reached his personal lab and locked the door behind himself. Immediately, he got in touch with the Director.

" _So, how are your new recruits?"_ The Director inquired. Rothstein smiled.

"Well, the one I took most interest in shows the fortitude and enthusiasm we need. The other two are going through the testing procedure. One of them is a bit similar to Yorburg, so I thought it best to tread lightly." Rothstein replied.

" _Understandable. I've received word from our friend in the tropics. They transferred the bulb to a remote island and placed it under MIRAGE projection. Apparently, the bulbs exponential growth is starting to slow down, though it's reached a height comparable to Godzilla. They expect it to stop growing in a week or so, but they also expect that there will be a noticeable difference in height compared to Godzilla."_

Rothstein rubbed his chin. That was rather troubling. The fact that there was a Kaiju at surface level was rather concerning, especially if it drew out Godzilla. Not that there was anything to expose a specific location on the bulbs island, but it would only make it more difficult and expensive to keep their movements under wraps. He was already wearing a disguise almost everywhere he went, it would get even more difficult if they suspected that they were creating new Kaiju to try and conquer the world again, they would be in significant trouble. As it was, they had to carefully orchestrate bribes and events to ensure that they could move materials and test subjects from one base to another without being discovered. Hell, it had been extremely difficult to get the Neo-Gen building outfitted for their needs, as well as transfer the technology and test subjects, and they'd had it relatively easy!

"Do we have to worry about it leaving the island, or having someone else discover it?" Rothstein asked.

" _According to what information we have now, it will be mobile, but it doesn't appear to have any means of travelling via the ocean. It certainly isn't capable of flight so we don't need to worry about that for now. That aside, it is casting out pulses of radiation and the bulb seems to be convulsing more than usual. It appears that whatever is inside is going to emerge very soon."_

As worrying as Rothstein found the bulb, he was genuinely fascinated by what could be inside it. Considering the 'trunk' of the thing was large and strong enough to support the bulb, it didn't appear to be some sort of chrysalis, as it had been for Rose. It was definitely sheltering something, though. So, what was hidden under that membrane?

"I'll want to take a look at it myself. I'll arrange to travel to the observation post in a week or so. Any objections, Director?" Rothstein inquired.

" _Nothing comes to mind. As an aside, I received word that the virus has been submitted for approval. According to my informant, they've submitted false information to cover up the potential side effects of the virus, as well as the toll it can take on an infected individual. In addition to this, I also received word that they've designed the virus with thousands of potential mutations. Once one type of DNA is inserted, it locks down all others, preventing any more than two sets of DNA from combining. So, we won't have to worry about having another situation like Yorburg or Rose."_ The Director informed.

"That's a bit of a relief. We still don't fully know what Rose is capable of. In terms of sheer physicality, she's rather underwhelming compared to other cross-species, but we haven't the foggiest of what else she's capable of." Rothstein noted.

" _Anything new related to her communication abilities? Last I heard, she was still restricted to physical gestures."_ The Director asked offhandedly, almost with deliberate disinterest.

"She is making a conscious effort to verbally communicate, but she has yet to form a comprehensive word. It actually appears to be a source of frustration for her. Why? You wouldn't happen to have any suggestions, would you?"

" _Of course not. Even when I was performing lab work, I was never involved in biology or psychology of any sort."_

"My apologies. You just seem to have been developing a bit more of an interest in this project." Rothstein stated before signing off and continuing his work on untangling Yorburg's DNA.

He had come very far since the transfer to the Neo-Gen building started, and he could feel that he was so close! He just had to restore a few more pairs and he would be able to get into those safes. He had pinned down the locations for three of the safes left in Yorburg's wake. The first was the one least likely to be noticed, but it could potentially be the hardest to retrieve. It was located in the destroyed site Gamma, buried within most of the base. Rothstein had already sent a small taskforce of search-drones to try and locate it, as well as try to haul it out, but he had yet to receive a signal back from any of them. Worst case scenario, He would have to go there with a retrieval vehicle and do it himself, but best case scenario, the drones could retrieve the vault with no difficulties. Either way, he wouldn't be getting the contents of the vaults until he could finish piecing together Yorburg's DNA.

* * *

Amelia was trying her best to keep still, but she was just so excited that she couldn't keep still. She was currently watching as Dr. Trill was interacting with the human/rose cross-species while Dr. Misaki was making note of the data, as well as instructing her what various bits and pieces of that data meant. Amelia was hanging on to every word, completely fascinated by this new lifeform and eager to learn as much as possible.

Currently, the cross-species was communicating with Dr. Trill with basic hand gestures. According to Dr. Misaki, the cross-species (Who she had been informed of was referred to as Rose) was physically and psychologically capable of speech, but hadn't been able to form proper words yet. According to Misaki, they were close to getting over that hurdle, as she had recently been making regular use of her vocal chords, though they seemed 'strained' for lack of a better word.

Soon, they concluded the session and Dr. Trill left the pen. Immediately, Misaki motioned for Amelia to follow her as she went to speak with Trill. Apparently, Rose appeared to be getting a bit restless, wandering around the edges of her enclosure during the lesson. She always refocused her attention on Trill when Trill called her by name, but she kept walking around, examining the walls. That said to Trill that she was starting to develop a greater curiosity for the world outside her enclosure, especially since she knew that there was another, larger area with much more interesting plant life to explore.

This piqued Amelia's curiosity, as well as giving her a few ideas.

"Umm, if I may?" She asked, trying to get their attention without drawing potential ire. Trill and Misaki turned to her and motioned for her to continue.

"Well, would it help to engage her physically? Based on the reports I read, she has only ever been engaged mentally."

Misaki and Trill looked ponderous for a moment.

"There could be something there. At the very least, it could reduce her desire to find a way out of the pen. That behaviour started a few sessions ago and we don't need her running around the building." Trill thought aloud. Amelia barely managed to keep from breaking out in a massive grin. She needed to stay professional. Still, the fact that she was providing recognized contributions on her first day was a really good sign!

* * *

Grey yawned as the Monarch van pulled into the garage. Everyone was tired, but it had been a great day. They ended up going to a diner for lunch and driven to a tram station to head up the mountain for some ziplining. Afterwards, they explored the rest of the attraction before heading back down the mountain to head home. Once they got out of the van, they immediately went inside to get some rest. However, Grey couldn't sleep. He could still feel that accursed instinct pulling him somewhere. It had grown stronger since he reported it to Graham, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore it. Coupled with that were the dreams he kept having of some strange… thing that was calling out for someone. They were growing sharped every night and he was starting to think that the instinct and these dreams weren't coincidences.

However, he eventually couldn't keep himself awake and fell unconscious.

Just as ever, the dreams were sharper. He could feel the overwhelming desperation and terror that rolled off the source of the question. Suddenly, he bolted upright, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily. As he calmed down, he rubbed his temples and took a drink of water.

"Something's up." Grey muttered to himself. As he looked out the window, he saw the sun was starting to rise. Checking the clock, he also saw that it was about an hour away from his usual wakeup time. He went about his morning as usual and got dressed before heading straight to Graham. Along the way, he came across Sabrina and Jack, who were both heading in the same direction as him.

"Hey, what's the rush?" Jack asked as Grey hurried by.

"Gotta see Graham. Really urgent." Grey said quickly as he kept fast walking.

"What's the problem?" Sabrina asked as she and Jack started after him.

"I don't know. That's the problem." Grey responded as he rounded a corner and rushed into Graham's lab. Graham looked up from her work as she saw Grey approaching.

"Doc, it's getting worse. Much worse." Grey stated. Graham pursed her lips.

"The tests I ran before aren't indicating anything different. Though, that could mean something worse is going on."

By this point, Sabrina and Jack had managed to get into the lab.

"Okay, what's going on?" Sabrina demanded. Grey sat down in one of the chairs.

"I have this… instinct of sorts. It basically draws me to Godzilla once he gets within a certain distance of me. For the last week or so, it's been running non-stop in the same direction, even though Godzilla hasn't been spotted on satellites or other tracking methods."

Sabrina looked grim for a moment while Jack seemed confused. Grey wasn't done yet though.

"Around the same time, I've started to have these dreams where… something, I'm not sure what, is 'calling' for someone. It's not speaking, it's more like I can… feel the question. It gets more overpowering every day and if it's not in my head, then we could be dealing with something really nasty."

"I've been having those dreams." Sabrina and Jack said at the same time, prompting them both to look at each other in surprise before Graham starting questioning everyone.

"So far, based on what Grey said, we've been getting it better than Grey has, but they have been becoming more vivid by the day." Jack stated. Graham leaned back against a table.

"If this event is occurring involving the three of you, then it stands to reason that the others have been experiencing this as well. Anything that all of you are experiencing simultaneously cannot be good." Graham muttered.

"Way to state the obvious, doc." Grey muttered himself.

"I'll make some calls and get the wheels in motion. We're getting to the bottom of this." Graham promised. Grey nodded before turning to leave. On his way out, Grey ran into Sam.

"Anything new with Neo-Gen?" Grey asked distractedly. Sam nodded.

"Actually, yeah."

Grey looked up in surprise. He immediately followed Sam back into the lab. Jack looked at Sam inquisitively. Sam looked to Graham.

"We got something big." Same stated. Everyone looked at attention. Sam took a deep breath before beginning.

"About three weeks ago, Neo-Gen had a whole bunch of stuff shipped in from Arizona. From what I was able to gather, most of it was new lab equipment and samples, but there was a lot of stuff that was out of place. In addition to that, they had two trucks arrive in the middle of the night carrying what was officially charted as storage crates, but there was a ton of information that doesn't add up."

Sam turned and plugged a flash drive into a computer before turning on the projector.

"For one, the weight of the crates isn't right."

He brought up and image of the trucks arriving. He singled out a side view of the trucks before he started speaking again.

"The trucks are too low to the ground for the crates to be empty, even though they were stated to be so. So, what was in the crates?"

Next, he caused the image to duplicate, each image having different images.

"We weren't able to get solid data on what was in the trucks, but we can make a few guesses. For one, the temperature is rather low in certain areas. It's not below zero, but it's noticeably colder than what would be natural. In addition to this, the trucks are lined with lead to prevent X-Rays from working. Seems a bit strange that they would be lining them with lead, right? Almost like they don't want these trucks X-Rayed."

Grey had to agree that all this information was suspicious.

"Okay, so about that temperature. Why would they need to keep it that cool?" Grey asked. Sam nodded.

"Getting to that. I have a theory, though there isn't enough information to make a case about it, but it's better than nothing. So, the temperature isn't cold enough for transporting gases, wo why would they need to keep specific areas of trucks that specific temperature? Well, there are many flowers who will close their petals and enter a sort of sleep. Tulips, for instance. Anyway, if you were to keep the temperature at a very specific temperature, you could theoretically get a plant to enter a sort of sleep, akin to hibernation. But why would they want to keep plants sedated?"

Grey straightened up, a look of dread on his face.

"You're not saying…"

Sam nodded.

"It looks that way."

Grey rubbed his forehead.

"Any recent abductions?" He asked, a hint of hysteria in his voice.

"None that match the circumstances of your abduction or any of the others. No one on the list of known cross-species or having the genetic potential for the serum to work correctly have gone missing. It's possible that they created one from scratch."

Grey shook his head.

"This is getting ridiculous. Is there anything we can do to investigate Neo-Gen?"

Sam shook his head.

"Not yet. I'll keep looking for something, but it'll take time."

Grey stood up.

"Alright, now can we do something about my homing sense? Can we at least look into that?"

Graham nodded.

"Give us a direction to look in and we'll send some drones to investigate."

Grey nodded and went to rest. Everything from the week had worn him down and he needed to recover. Hopefully they would solve this quickly and these blasted dreams would stop. Until then, he needed to rest. He needed…

Grey collapsed on his bed, snoring. Hopefully it would be peaceful for the first time in a while.

* * *

 **Man, this turned out longer than I anticipated. On the plus side, I got a new, beefier laptop! So, we got the new meat at Neo-Gen, Grey's starting to slowly lose his mind due to being crushed under the weight of another entity's desperation and sadness, and Biollante's about to emerge.**

 **Creativity: So what city is Biollante going to destroy?**

 **Author: Any form of answer to that question (Aside from this one) would constitute spoilers.**

 **Creativity: Right. Sorry… Don't hurt me…**

 **Author: I make no promises.**

 **Also, I would like to apologize for the lunacy at the beginning. I learned my lesson. No more screwing a round with the studio cauldron.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, that monstrosity was a nightmare to catch.**

 **GRRRAWRRRR!**

 **Creativity: SHUT UP!**

 **Author: Jeez, that thing is nasty.**

 **Anyway, see ya next week!**

* * *

 **P.S.**

 **A Response to Clare Prime of Ultra: First of all, I will make as many of them evil as I want and I will relish your tears like the horrible person I am. Second, how is she sweet? I do not recall giving her any form of personal expression aside from loneliness and frustration. For all we know, she could be a complete psychopath waiting for the precise moment to murder everyone at Neo-Gen, including her siblings.**

 **P.S.S**

 **I never said to stop reviewing. That was just a jab for shits and giggles. It's kinda normal within my circle of family and friends to jab at how horrible you personally are (X person says that they themselves are a terrible person for some sort of hyperbolic bad thing, hence me stating I will relish the misery of others who enjoy my work) The only thing that ever frustrates me is when I can't engage in direct communication to discuss my work, their work or whatever topic may come up. I'm not so petty that I would be passive aggressive about someone dropping reviews about my work and pleading I do or don't do something with a character or plot thread (I'm petty in many other ways) ;)**


	28. Introductions

**Hmmm… Which one, which one…**

 **Creativity: Whatcha doing boss?**

 **Author: Trying to decide on what I want to do when this story is done.**

 **Creativity: Ummm… Isn't it a bit… Early, to be deciding that?**

 **Author: Perhaps, but considering the number of projects I have going right now in the background, I kinda want to figure out which one is released next.**

 **Oh, sorry. I didn't notice you all. Well, let's just get straight to the chapter, shall we?**

 **Here's chapter 26**

 **Post completion edit: An apology to Ultra. Further explanation at the end, but the short version is sorry. Also sorry I couldn't offer an apology earlier, but this is really the only avenue I have for communicating with you**

* * *

"Doc, I'm starting to have second thoughts about this little idea of yours."

Grey was currently lying in the medical wing of the Monarch branch facility with several electrodes attached to his body. He wasn't the only one either. Also lying on the hospital beds were Sabrina, Laura, Jack, Darcie, Zack and Ben, all with their own electrodes. Graham was walking back and forth, tapping on her tablet computer every now and again while examining monitors that the electrodes were connected to.

"This is the best way to figure out what's causing these strange dreams you've been having. If we can see what areas of your brain are most active during one of these dreams, we can possibly isolate their source. Trust me, the equipment isn't harmful in any way." Graham informed them. Grey rolled his eyes.

"That isn't especially encouraging." He snarked before Graham approached with a gas mask. Grey took a deep breath and exhaled before breathing in the gas. It took a little longer than they anticipated, but he was out like a light. The others soon followed suit.

The dream was even more overpowering than before. Grey could do little more than steel himself against the waves of raw emotion that rolled off the entity. Finally, he snapped. After one and a half weeks, he finally cracked.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" He shouted at the entity.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!"

Then all of a sudden, he was awake. He was drenched in sweat again and he was breathing heavily. The others were also coming around. Graham was examining the results on the monitors. Her expression said that she was perplexed.

"So, what are we looking at, doc?" Grey asked as he resisted the urge to pull off the electrodes.

"Well, it's interesting to say the least. The parts of your brain that were lighting up while you were unconscious were all related to receiving and processing communication. It's almost like you all were receiving some sort of radio signal."

Graham motioned for them to remove the electrodes before downloading the data from the machinery to her tablet.

"It actually makes some sense. In theory, creatures from Godzilla's age would have been able to communicate through ionizing radiation, similar to the radios we use today. Of course, this is all just theory, but it's a very plausible one. Especially with this new evidence."

Grey groaned.

"So, going off the assumption that we are receiving some sort of radiation signal when we're asleep, how do we stop receiving it so that we can get a good night's sleep? Also, how come we're only receiving it when we're asleep to begin with?"

Graham stroked her chin ponderously.

"Well, perhaps you could try sleeping in the holding cells. They're lined with radiation resistant materials, so the signal shouldn't reach you in there, provided that is indeed the case. As to why you are only receptive to it while asleep, the most likely answer is that you are unconsciously tuning it out during the day since you have so much other information to process. When you fall asleep however, that frees up enough room for your brain to start processing that signal."

Grey groaned and cracked his back and his neck before heading for the door.

"Well, I'm going to go borrow one of those cells because for the love of Godzilla, I need to sleep! Have a good day!"

And with that, Grey did just that. He walked down to the holding cells, let himself in, shut the door, lay down on the cot and crashed.

Sabrina groaned as she rolled her shoulders, feeling them pop.

"Grey didn't have any jobs to do today, did he?" Sabrina asked Graham. Graham shook her head.

"Even if he did, he wouldn't anymore. I'm almost afraid of what will happen if someone disturbs him."

Sabrina had to agree. She'd seen Grey when he was sleep deprived and someone tried to wake him up. She might be able to beat him in a fair match, but he was downright terrifying when there was someone or something standing between him and a much-needed rest.

Sabrina shrugged and went to leave before a wave of exhaustion washed over her. She hadn't even noticed how tired she was up until now.

Opting to take a page out of Grey's book, she went down to the cells and settled in for a proper rest. Soon enough, every cross-species had picked a cell and had completely crashed.

* * *

Graham shook her head in mild disbelief before heading up to her lab. She had deployed search drones to investigate the rough area where Grey's homing instinct was trained on. So far, they hadn't found anything, but it was early days in the search. Besides, Grey's instincts had proven accurate so far. However, that also worried her. Grey's instincts had always tracked Godzilla exclusively. None of the other Kaiju triggered any similar phenomena, so what was triggering this one if not Godzilla?

Hopefully the drones would find something to answer that. In the meantime, she would be working on something to help block out this strange signal the cross-species were all receiving. She suspected that the cells wouldn't be very comfortable to sleep in night after night.

She made her way back to her lab, only to be waylaid by Sam, who was carrying a tablet.

"We have a problem."

He spun the tablet around to show her a satellite image of a cluster of islands.

"I was examining some satellite footage of a cluster of islands that are apparently private property for one of Neo-Gen's primary investors. I sent one of the scout drones to investigate, but it kept veering off when it within a quarter of a mile of the shoreline. I tried manual control and even then, the drone wouldn't fly near the place."

Graham took the tablet and zoomed out, finding the islands' location relative to the facility.

"That's almost in the exact direction that Grey said his tracking instincts were locked to. How come the drones I sent out didn't investigate there yet?"

Sam shrugged.

"Well, you sent out Explorer drones, right? They're not as fast as the Scout drone I sent. Plus, as I recall you had them sweeping everything in that general direction. There's a few islands large enough to warrant a search along that route. Besides, they wouldn't be able to get close to it and wouldn't notify you of it."

Graham rubbed her forehead.

"Okay then, what could be keeping our drones from flying near that island?" Graham asked.

"There is some theoretically technology that could project a signal that prevents unmanned aircraft from getting within a certain distance of the source. And the fact that the technology is public knowledge if you want to look for it means that it's a safe bet that our friends that developed gamma guns would have some variation of that technology way ahead of us."

Graham turned and started walking down the hallway, Sam in tow.

"Is there the possibility that the island is also fitted with some sort of technology to prevent a more… analog form of investigation?"

Sam shrugged.

"If you're referring to that specific repellent, probably not. Not for ordinary humans anyway. Our cross-species friends probably won't be able to get close, considering the people that created them probably came up with ways to deter them from going to places they shouldn't. As for us, they probably have something a bit more direct."

Graham rubbed her temples.

"Well, hopefully when I develop something to block out that signal they've been receiving, it can be applied to this problem too, with modification if necessary. Whatever their doing on that island must be important if they're risking open air. Or they're getting lax."

Eventually they reached Graham's lab. Sam followed her to her work station.

"I doubt that. Whatever they're doing on that island must require open air or lots of space that they can't get in a building or underground. Or both."

Sam departed soon after, leaving Graham to continue mulling the situation over. Sam had a good point. Whatever they were hiding on that island could simply require that much space. However, if something was so large that they couldn't hide it underground like their Godzilla mech from over a year ago, how big was it?

Then there was the fact that Grey had his tracking instincts locked in the islands' direction and every cross-species within the facility was having same dream with varying severity, all tied in with what little they could guess at. It all pointed to something very, very dangerous.

* * *

Rothstein had heard the stories about the larger bulb's lucrative growth, but seeing it now made his heart skip a few beats.

It was practically a tree now, if trees grew to be one hundred fifty meters tall that is. The orange 'core' that had grown in the trunk was covered by a mass of overgrown plant matter and vines, though you could still see the glow underneath. The waxy membrane had now taken on a pink coloration, which Rothstein hypothesized was a result of the membrane being stretched to the point of near-transparency. Underneath it, one could see the massive, thorny vines that wrapped around the bulb, occasionally shivering. There were small buds on the ends of each vine that appeared to have extra spikes around the ends. Perhaps they were small caps that were used to rip the membrane when the creature inside was ready to emerge? Rothstein hadn't a clue.

Rothstein was observing the colossal being inside a gamma-proof bunker. Surrounding the creature were massive Gamma emitters, which channeled Gamma radiation through a controlled space to the tree… thing. They used an advanced form of electromagnetic containment to direct the radiation to maximise the amount of radiation the entity absorbed, and drastically reduced the effect on the environment. Not that it mattered that much. The creature was outputting a gamma field reminiscent of Godzilla's though not quite as powerful and with the approximately the same range. Hence, they kept to the relative safety of the bunker.

"And you say it's growth has halted?" Rothstein asked. One of the lead scientists nodded.

"As much as it does for creatures like this. As I'm sure you know, Kaiju don't really ever stop growing. It just slows to a relative crawl when they reach maturity."

Rothstein shook his head.

"I think it should be cause for concern that it has reached maturity in the span of a few months. If this thing is able to reproduce in any way, the planet could be overrun in under a year and humanity would be wiped out in the process." Rothstein stated, his brow creased with worry. The scientist nodded.

"We had the same thought and sent a drone to take a new DNA sample. According to our data, it can't reproduce. At least not yet. We're monitoring it daily to see if anything changes."

Rothstein nodded.

"Good. Do we have any contingencies for if we must… deal with it?" Rothstein asked. As much as he feared this thing they had made, he didn't want to destroy it and couldn't bring himself to say it. The scientist shook his head.

"Not yet. The specimen is too resistant to ignition for anything practical. Theoretically a plasma weapon could be used to cut it with relative ease, but we haven't run any tests on that yet. We've ran several simulations for poisons, but those are always beaten in the end, even when used in combination. It does incapacitate the specimen, so it could be used as part of the contingency." The scientist explained. He continued to talk, but Rothstein drifted off for a moment before having a thought.

"Could Godzilla defeat it?"

The scientist paused for a moment, seemingly unsure.

"We ran some light simulations and Godzilla could theoretically defeat the specimen, however we do not know what it is capable of yet. We tried injecting nanites to create a biological map of the specimen, but they were all destroyed by anti-bodies. Even when broadcasting a frequency to keep the immune system at bay, the nanites can't survive long enough to deliver useful data. In short, I wouldn't put money on Godzilla solving that problem for us. Besides, doesn't it seem strange that he hasn't done anything about it yet? Even when exposed to the surface he isn't responding to it in any capacity."

That was a good point, Rothstein admitted in his head. It was strange that Godzilla hadn't targeted the specimen yet. Perhaps he wasn't aware of it yet? That didn't seem likely. Was he afraid? That didn't seem likely. If there was one thing Rothstein was sure of, Godzilla didn't understand the meaning of the word fear. So, what was keeping him?

Then he had another thought.

"What about the other island? The South Pacific one?"

The scientist shook his head.

"Definitely not. There's only one creature on that island that might be able to kill the specimen, and Monarch would immediately know that something was up if we even tried."

Rothstein shook his head.

"Keep investigating. Perhaps increasing the potency of the poison could help." Rothstein ordered before leaving the observation post. The man was right. That island wouldn't be of any help. They would have to solve this themselves.

Still, that did remind him. They hadn't done a survey of that island in some time. Perhaps there were some new locals. Or the originals had evolved into something new.

Perhaps some other time. He had other problems to deal with now.

He made his way to his quarters, which were in one of the more lavish 'visitors' wings, he immediately got in contact with Neo-Gen over a triple encrypted connection. He collected a few new progress reports on Rose and her 'siblings' progress, a report on his new hires' performance these last couple of weeks, and a quick correspondence with the Director. Apparently, the virus was about to be given approval in a matter of days. However, according to the Director's source it would be some time before the virus was actually ready for distribution. Well, all the better for them. They were producing enough of their vaccine to distribute it worldwide at the press of a button. The delivery system was already in place worldwide. They just needed to know when they were launching, and they would tear the rug out from under the sloppy, rush-job hacks that seemed convinced that they knew what they were doing.

Rothstein ended the communications and decided to take a brief rest. He would have worked on decoding the genetic key, but he had opted to leave the mostly decoded sample and the machine back at Neo-Gen.

Settling back in a comfortable chair, Rothstein shut his eyes and eased into a relaxed posture as he began to doze.

* * *

Amelia watched with bated breath as the two doors opened slowly. Today they were introducing Rose to her smallest siblings. They were 'runts' in a way and they hoped that she wouldn't feel threatened by them or display any sort of aggression, or vice versa. Rose was the first to enter the Terrarium, immediately making her way to a nearby stream. She seemed to have a fascination with the water lilies that grew in the slow-moving water and always went to check them first. As she was distracted, she didn't notice the two smaller cross-species cautiously enter the Terrarium. While they weren't as skittish as the two 'middle' cross-species, they were very wary when entering the Terrarium. According to Trill, the current hypothesis was that it was probably a survival mechanism that they inherited from their human genetics. Everything was much bigger, much more potentially dangerous.

Soon enough, they were fully inside and immediately made for a large cluster of ferns. They often hid inside them for a brief moment, peaking out to make sure the coast was clear. However, their quick duck for cover was enough to alert Rose to the fact that she wasn't alone in the Terrarium. She immediately began looking around, an curious expression on her face.

They made a point of not interacting with the cross-species inside the Terrarium, as they wanted to see how they associated various places with different meanings. Since they only ever interacted with the cross-species in their own pens, it would be interesting to see if there were any shifts in behaviour when they encountered a new creature in this environment.

They watched as Rose slowly approached the cluster of ferns where the two small cross-species were hiding in. They shifted further back in the foliage, creating a rustling noise and prompting her to pause. She approached much more cautiously, slowly pushing the ferns aside to reveal the first one. It immediately retreated out of the ferns and hurried under a collapsed log. Rose had quickly backpedalled when the first of her smaller counterparts bolted for new cover and saw the second one dart out to join first. She slowly approached, making sure to keep them in sight as she got a little closer before pausing. She peered closer at them as they stared back.

Strangely, Rose seemed to lose interest and left them to go back to the steam. However, they could still see her eyes flicking back to where she had seen the smaller cross-species. Misaki voiced the thought that she was probably just making sure they were still there and not sneaking up on her. Not that they were. They were still hiding under the log. Eventually, they decided that the coast was clear and the slowly left the log before crawling up a small hill to peer at Rose, who was on the opposite side of the stream. She was currently examining one of the fish that they had included in the stream and the pond it connected to. Just a few koi to make it a bit more engaging. She hadn't really shown much interest, but she usually spent a couple minutes watching them. The two cross-species that they had sent in with her loved watching the fish. They spent most of their time near the pond, occasionally trying to grab one as it swam by. They never came close, but that never deterred them.

After several minutes, they slowly crept out of the foliage, freezing when Rose took notice of them. After a few moments, Rose returned her attention to the water, though her gaze kept flicking back to them. Coming to the conclusion they weren't in immediate danger yet, the two smaller cross-species slowly made their way down to the water and sat in a crouch. They watched with fascination as the fish swam by, occasionally gulping something from on the surface of the water.

This went on for about fifteen minutes before Rose's curiosity got the better of her and she slowly began moving around the pond. The two younger cross-species tensed, but Rose held up her hands lightly, a gesture she knew believed to mean that she meant no harm. They still looked tense, but they didn't run as she got closer. Eventually Rose came to a stop when they started turning to run, settling on her haunches and motioning for them to approach her. Both parties remained absolutely still for several long moments. Amelia, Trill and Misaki were all holding their breath. None of the observers dared move a finger.

Then the two smaller cross-species slowly began approaching Rose. They took their time with it until they eventually got within a foot of each other. Rose slowly offered an hand which her smaller counterparts reached out and touched.

Amelia wanted to squeal, but refrained out of fear that an outburst could ruin the breakthrough, even if the observation room was completely soundproof.

After the first contact, both Rose and her tiny counterparts became much more relaxed around each other and much more inquisitive. After several more minutes of one party examining the other, they all returned to watching the stream. The two smaller ones were busy watching the fish, while Rose resumed watching the water lilies.

The session went on longer than expected, but eventually they opened the doors back to their separate rooms and signalled them to return to their rooms. All three of the cross-species complied, but there was noticeable reluctance for them to do so. Once inside, they shut the doors and everyone filed out of the observation room.

Today's experiment had been a rousing success as far as Amelia was concerned, but she didn't say that. She still wasn't officially on the team, only a trainee. However, she had a feeling that the others felt the same way.

Hopefully, the next experiment would prove as successful as this one. Provided they kept succeeding in these introductions, they would eventually have all of them meeting at once. That would be incredible.

 **So, Rose meets her two smallest 'siblings'.**

 **Creativity: I'll bet a bunch of the readership thought it was 'cute', maybe too 'cute'.**

 **Author: Whatever. I think it's a good idea to spend a bit more time humanizing Rose more than the pitiful amount I've done so far. Especially as we approach zero-hour mk-1.**

 **Yeah, this season is gonna have a couple of big things happen as opposed to the one big one from last time. Also, a Skull Island reference! There's been a couple people asking about Kong, and yes, he will make an appearance in the story. Just not yet. Also, he hasn't fought Godzilla yet in my story, nor has he fought Ghidorah, Mothra or Rodan. I'll introduce them later, but not until next season at least.**

 **Well, that about covers everything!**

 **See ya next week!**

 **P.S. (Also included as P.S.S in previous chapter, for all who start mouthing off about it)**

 **I never said to stop reviewing. That was just a jab for shits and giggles. It's kinda normal within my circle of family and friends to jab at how horrible you personally are (X person says that they themselves are a terrible person for some sort of hyperbolic bad thing, hence me stating I will relish the misery of others who enjoy my work. Another example, though not quite in the same vein, is Jim Sterling of the Jimquisition stating "And I'll buy it anyway, because I am a consumerist worm and" I can't remember the rest of the quote, but you get the gist.) The only thing that ever frustrates me is when I can't engage in direct communication to discuss my work, their work or whatever topic may come up. I'm not so petty that I would be passive aggressive about someone dropping reviews about my work and pleading I do or don't do something with a character or plot thread (I'm petty in many other ways) ;)**


	29. Emergence

**And we're back! So, with this chapter we have reached the 100k word milestone! That puts us in the top ten longest stories in the Godzilla category!**

 **Creativity: Aren't we special little snowflakes!**

 **Author: Don't let it get to you, but it does feel pretty cool.**

 **So yeah, and we're not done yet! At least one extra set of chapters after this one is finished. After that, no clue. Probably gonna wrap it up after that, but hey. I got other stuff in the works.**

 **Also, to Ultra, I'm glad things are ok now. I don't necessarily think I was being that mean, but I can definitely see how it can be taken as such. Generally, I only answer and/or correspond with consistent visitors, and that's normally over PMs. Though, I could have been more exaggerated and crazy when writing that joke response. Any thoughts?**

 **Also, again to Ultra, I'm pretty sure I specified their biological appearance, but I may be wrong. In the event I am wrong, the two smallest of Rose's 'siblings' look close to 9 or 10. The middle range is 14-15, and the ones that are slightly more monster-esq appear to be in their mid-twenties, minus the monster traits.**

 **Alright, enough with the opening bit. Now, without further ado, I present chapter 27!**

* * *

 **Post Completion edit: So, as I was finishing this chapter, I noticed that this story got 120 reads on Monday. I say again, 120 reads in one day. That's pretty crazy to me. I just want to give a big thank you to all who decide to take a look at my work.**

 **We now return to your regularly scheduled chapter.**

* * *

As of late there were few things Grey valued more than a good night rest. But he was beginning to wonder if being a lab rat was worth it. Lately, he'd been the test subject for several experimental devices that were designed to block out the strange signal he and the other cross-species were receiving, and they'd all been failures in one way or another. One of them made him sick to his stomach, another had caused his skin to rapidly change back and forth between scales and claws, leaving him to spend the rest of that day in one of the freezers in a desperate effort to make the damn itch go away. Then the last one had blown several circuits near his ears. Needless to say, he did not have a lot of confidence, patience or will to keep being the test subject for a glorified radio jammer.

"Are you at least certain it won't blow up this time?" He asked as Graham finished strapping a weird headband with two boxes strapped to either side of his head, with a larger one on the front. There were a several electrodes attached to his head that mapped out the parts of brain that were actively receiving and processing the signal. The information was being displayed on a large screen nearby, as well as a wire-frame image of his brain.

"I'm sure it won't." She said quickly and dismissively. That didn't exactly inspire confidence. He was wondering whether or not it was too late to back out of the experiment when Graham started counting down from three before pressing a button on a handheld remote. Bracing for the expected pain and/or discomfort, Grey squeezed his eyes shut. But it didn't come. He opened his eyes and looked at the screen. It showed the sections of his brain that were active when receiving and processing the signal had returned to the levels of activity he'd had before the strange dreams started!

Graham pressed the button again and the machine shut off. Grey experienced a brief moment of dizziness before returning to normal as he stood up.

"Oh, thank Godzilla. I don't know how many more failed attempts I could take." Grey sighed in relief. He still patted down his head in case something caught fire. With all the strange and unusual pain he'd been subjected to recently, he thought it best to be sure.

After assuring himself that he was fine and that the headband hadn't done anything harmful to him, aside from the brief dizziness, he and Graham both left to attend a strategy meeting with the other cross-species, Ford and his team, Sam and a few others. It was all internal to Monarch since they didn't want any company, agency or department that might have a mole in it to get wind of what they were up to. Grey didn't know precisely what was going on, as he'd been out of the loop for a week or so, but if this many people were being called in, it had to mean that there was something big.

They arrive a few minutes before Ford and his team showed up, being the last to arrive. Grey settled into the chair as Sam dimmed the lights and turned on the projector. Several images of a cluster of islands appeared on the screen.

"Before we get into the bulk of today's meeting, I thought it best to recap what we know about the subject of this meeting. As you know, we've recently begun investigating Neo-Gen, which is a genetics company that claims to deal in genetically modified plants. However, three weeks ago Grey, Sabrina and Ford discovered that Neo-Gen representatives were acquiring illegal, uncollected gamma guns. This event is what prompted us to start investigating in the first place." Sam stated before switching to another set of images.

"Analysis of several shipments to and from Neo-Gen suggest that Neo-Gen's primary lab and office recently received several cross-species, suspected to have plant DNA as part of their genetic makeup. The evidence for this is that the containers they were shipped in didn't match the weight of the listed manifest, as well as readings suggest specialized cryo-stasis pods were the actual manifest. In addition to this Neo-Gen's primary location is structured to have a specialized lab area, cut off from the rest of the building. The floor layout we managed to acquire shows that the separate lab area consists of roughly two floors, which is odd when you consider that it starts on the second and goes up. It seems like space was wasted unnecessarily, unless housing for cross-species is taken into account." Sam continued. Some of this was new information to Grey, but most of it wasn't.

"Finally, I recently investigated the primary investors of Neo-Gen and one of them is the owner of a small cluster of islands whose location relative to us matches up rather concisely with Grey's tracking sense. The islands appear to have a signal broadcast that repels drones from it, even when under manual control."

That was something that Grey hadn't heard about, which confused him. Especially when it was related to his tracking sense. Then again, he'd been rather busy since the tests started. And what time he hadn't spent working, he'd spent sleeping in one of the containment cells, so it actually made some sense.

By this point, Sam had paused to catch his breath a bit as well as prepare his next set of images.

"Now, for some new information." Sam began. He brought up a few images of several men and women as well as some information to accompany them.

"After the raid on the facility where Grey and the other cross-species were experimented on, we managed to recover a small list of people who were present on that base. About half of them are confirmed to have died when Dr. Yorburg blew the place to kingdom come and the rest vanished before we could put official word out, as well as anyone with some sort of personal relationship with them. Among them was one Dr. Rothstein."

Rothstein's image and information were enlarged, while the others' minimized and moved off to the side. Grey could almost feel a growl trying to escape from his throat.

"Rothstein is suspected to be dead, as he was never confirmed leaving. However, we don't have any confirmation he's dead. I was recently investigating a specialized archive I helped develop to try and help us track down anyone on the list, and I noticed something."

Rothstein's image and information now moved to the left-hand side of the screen while two images of identical looking documents appeared on the right.

"The archive catalogues official governments records once a week and stores them away as week long changes. If you'll notice, one of the files includes one Royston Parks. Mr. Parks is apparently a lead scientist at Neo-Gen and didn't exist until about a month ago. His records state that he's in his late forties and got started working at Neo-Gen shortly after it's founding, but those records didn't actually exist until, as I said, about a month ago. In addition to this, his overall physique is almost one to one with the latest official records of Dr. Rothstein. His appearance may be very different, but I think it's safe to assume that they have technology to aid in that, be it genetic tampering or some sort of cloaking or disguise technology."

Grey fought down the urge to growl again.

"Do we have enough to call them out?" Sabrina asked. She and the other cross-species looked to be sharing Grey's sentiment. Sam shook his head.

"Not yet. However, we have leads to explore. Ford, Jordan, Sabrina, Jack and Laura will be heading to the islands to investigate the cause of the strange dreams and Grey's tracking instinct."

Grey straightened a bit in his seat.

"I don't mean to complain, but why am I not going?" Grey asked.

"Considering your much more receptive to… whatever is happening on that island, we considered it highly probable that you would experience a sensory overload if you got too close, regardless of the technology we have to mitigate the effects. We'll be sending you, Nancy, Darcie and Zack to investigate an old factory that until recently, was Neo-Gen. Before that, it was owned by a weapons manufacturer. The location has recently been condemned due to disrepair and Neo-Gen intends to construct a new facility to create what is essentially a GMO factory. We've found other links between Neo-Gen and this particular arms manufacturer, but they've all been disproven in court. However, operating under the assumption that both these companies are directly connected to the enemy, the courts ruling means nothing. Plus, we have photo evidence of the guns being retrieved by a Neo-Gen representative. We want you to search for any leads for those gamma guns. A facility that used to manufacture arms that was owned by Neo-Gen before being torn down, coupled with Neo-Gen acquiring those guns seems a bit too convenient. It's a decent location to store them in, especially if they only store a few dozen at a time before shipping them elsewhere. Also look for any evidence to link these two companies together. Anything to keep the heat on Neo-Gen when we go after them will be needed."

Grey nodded. The logic was sound to him, and his heightened senses in regards to radiation would allow him to tell if the guns had been there. They had a rather distinct radiation signature.

"As for the rest of you, there's been reports of someone or something poking around the remains of the Mecha Godzilla. Half of you will be investigating the interior, while the rest of you will be aiding in tracking down the remains." Sam continued, finishing the outline of the plan.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Sam state abruptly.

"Barry, Simon and Riya will be joining us soon. They'll each be assigned to one of the three missions I have just described."

Now that made Grey straighten in surprise and anticipation. It had been a while since he had seen the three of them. Hell, if they weren't coming here to engage in pseudo spy missions, he would be looking forward to catching up with them.

With the meeting over, Grey made his way down to what the staff had started to refer to as the 'locker room', as it was where they kept the military equipment, as well as the specialized gear for the resident cross-species. After grabbing his gauntlets, headset and his uniform, he pulled the gear on and went to meet with the others, who were also in wearing their uniforms and gear. He picked out Click, Barry and Simon in the group and waved as he made his way over to them.

"Well, we got the original team back together!" Grey remarked jokingly as he gave each of them a hug.

"So, anything interesting back home?" He asked. Simon told a quick story about how one of the local tough guys decided to swipe his bottle of radiation supplements and ate one, before becoming violently sick and having to be rushed to the hospital. After he'd stopped projectile vomiting and they managed to drain the radiation of his system (Thanks to a reluctant Simon) he was charged with the illegal consumption of a medicinal substance and sent off to prison. That got a few heads turning. Click made a few of her signature clicking noises, which they had heard enough of to know roughly translated to 'screw that guy'.

They chatted for a little longer as Grey introduced them to the rest of the resident cross-species. The friendly chatting was cut short however, when Sam arrived and informed them that they were almost ready to move out, as well as inform them of who the three new arrivals would be joining. Click would be joining Grey's team, Barry would be going with Sabrina and Ford, and Simon would be going with the rest of the cross-species and the unassigned members of Ford's team. Everyone split into their teams and made their way to the assigned method of transportation. It was time to begin the investigation proper.

* * *

Rothstein marched through the halls of Neo-Gen. He was heading to the private conference room to meet with the Director, who had come to pay a visit. This was rather curious to Rothstein, as the Director seldom left the facility she oversaw. Whatever brought her here must be very important. He sped up a tick and hurried to the conference room. The Director was already inside, seated at one end of the table.

After shutting the door behind him, Rothstein took a seat adjacent to the Director.

"I'm surprised by your visit, Director. I'm sure you didn't come all the way here to take a look at our special project."

The Director shook her head.

"No, I did not. You are aware that this company has just recently acquired the old factory where Zeta lab phi was located, correct?"

Rothstein nodded, stroking his chin.

"Yes, lab phi. They were studying advanced artificial intelligence as I recall."

The Director shook her head.

"That was one of the many things they were researching, but they all had the same end goal. All of their experiments revolved around converting a physical mind into a digital one."

Rothstein nodded.

"Right. As I recall, an experiment involving AI and cybernetics went horribly wrong and they decommission the lab."

The Director nodded.

"Correct. The location was disconnected from our web and the entrance was sealed, it was labelled under quarantine and the factory overhead was shut down. So, I would like you to explain why you have used this company to purchase the location."

Rothstein didn't let his face betray anything. He had thought he'd covered his tracks well, but apparently not well enough. Thankfully, he'd prepared for this eventuality.

"Call it concern. When I was working with Yorburg, he always tried to develop contingencies for the possibility of him being labelled a liability or anything that would give the Directors an excuse to have him… dealt with. He never shared of these contingencies with me, but when you worked with the man, you had to keep ahead of him if possible. I don't believe I was able to do quite that, but I do know that he was vindictive, unstable, vengeful and crafty. He would plot retribution beyond his grave and I believe he has. Since he worked at lab phi for some time before the accident, I thought it possible there might be some clues hidden there. Owning the plot of land gives us an alibi for investigating." Rothstein stated, never once betraying any ulterior motive. The Director still seemed skeptical.

"And you have chosen to share this information with no one else?" She asked. Rothstein shook his head.

"Very few knew the man as I did and do not grasp his forethought. He may be prone to missing crucial details when it counts, but when Yorburg sought retribution, he got it. I'm sure that those who could claim to have known him well are working on the same thing as we speak. I'm just a step or two ahead."

The Director leaned back in her chair.

"And so, it becomes a race for who lays claim to being a saviour."

Rothstein shrugged.

"That is a nice bonus." Rothstein said in a quick remark. The Director looked like she wanted to roll her eyes.

"Very well, but exercise extreme caution when down in that lab. The few who escaped the lab after the accident are all insane, claiming that whatever they were working on came to life and tried to 'wipe the slate clean'."

Rothstein nodded.

"I will take that into consideration."

* * *

Sabrina checked her gauntlets for the umpteenth time as they approached the island inside a special boat that acted like a pseudo submarine, with the majority of the boat underwater. However, it was still as fast as a high-end speedboat. They had been travelling for about forty-five minutes and were almost to the island. The others were also checking their gear over. Well, except for Jack, who was looking a little green and looked determined to not open his eyes. Why he had been placed on a mission that required transport by boat was beyond her, as was why he hadn't brought this up before hand. Well, it was too late now, unless they decided to jettison him out the top of the boat.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, though Sabrina did suddenly wish she had asked how they were going to get to the island without being noticed. It was doubtless that they would have some sort of surveillance and radar tracking, so what was keeping them from being discovered?

The answer came minutes later, when they heard an announcement from the back of the boat, which informed them that they were about to submerge completely. However, that still didn't answer how they were going to avoid radar and other, similar forms of tracking. She asked Ford about that who assured her that they had thought of that.

"The hull of this boat is made of a special material that absorbs radar signals, thus they can't spot us with that. In addition to that, the power source for this rig is a specially designed nuclear motor, which also projects a field that disrupts radio waves, so whatever the field doesn't stop, the hull will. Of course, we can't be sure that's all they have for spotting intruders, but it should allow us to at least reach the island." Ford explained.

Well, at least it was something. After several tense minutes, they reached the island, pulling up just off shore. They all jumped out and swam ashore, where Jack lay back against a fallen tree trunk to recover for a moment. It was only a minute or two before his seasickness passed and they were on the move. They crept through the brush, trying to keep noise to a minimum. Thus, it was especially disconcerting when they were basically the only sources of noise on the entire island.

"Where are the birds? The insects? Anything… It's like the entire island is devoid of animal life." Jordan muttered just loud enough for the group to hear him. He was right. The only sounds of life other than them was the wind rustling the vegetation. What was going on here?

Then they felt the ground shake. They braced as the island rumbled and a keening wail broke the smothering silence. At the same time, all of the present cross-species grabbed their heads in pain. It passed soon enough, but it was enough to nearly drive them to the ground. After pulling themselves to their feet, they looked around in fear.

"I thought these modified headsets were supposed to prevent stuff like this from happening!" Jack nearly shouted, his voice tinged with hysteria. It looked like the rest of the cross-species shared his sentiment. Sabrina certainly did. As they pressed further in, the cross-species could feel the effects of the modified headsets starting to conflict with… something. Was this what Grey's tracking instinct felt like?

They could see a clearing up ahead. One thing that Sabrina and the other cross-species noted as they pressed further towards the centre of the island was that the levels of ionizing radiation were rising steadily as they approached the clearing. Thankfully, the soldiers were wearing specially designed suits that functioned as soldier's gear and HAZMAT suits. However, they weren't quite as protective as HAZMAT suits yet, so the soldiers also had Geiger meters installed in their own headsets, to let them know if they were pushing the suits too far.

Eventually, they breached the clearing and everyone's breath instantly refused to leave their lungs. Before them was a colossal… plant… thing… They weren't quite sure what it was, but it was massive. Sabrina put it at roughly 150 meters, bare minimum. Its body looked like a tree trunk that was half-submerged in a pile of vines. Near the base of the 'trunk' had a large, glowing orange orb inside it that was partially obscured by vines. There were much larger, thorny vines that wrapped around the trunk up to and inside a massive, pinkish-orangish bulb. The thorns on the vines could be seen under a waxy membrane that looked ready to burst. They watched as the bulb shivered a few times as the vines underneath shifted before the wail sounded again. Suddenly, the ground began shaking as the massive… thing began to shift. They watched as the membrane began stretching even more before they saw a small tear in it. The end of a vine poked through and, to everyone's shock and horror, there was a massive set of jaws on the end! The jaws were large enough to fit two fully grown humans inside, and there could be one on the end of every one of those vines!

That was soon revealed to be the case when the vines thrashed and tore, ripping the membrane off to reveal a massive, closed rose bloom underneath. However, as it tilted downward, it was revealed that at the center of the bulb was an even larger set of jaws. The sight made Sabrina want to crawl under a rock until the creature wasn't there anymore.

The bulb tilted back and released another wail, even louder than the previous one! Everyone's hands clapped to their ears, trying to block out the noise. As soon as the ear-splitting noise was gone, Sabrina used her headset to take some proper photos of the thing before everyone turned around and began running as fast as their legs could carry them. They could hear the vines swiping and thrashing behind them, knocking down trees and flinging earth and natural debris everywhere!

"Please tell me that thing can't move!" Jack shouted as they fled for their lives through the brush.

"I'm not turning around to look!" Laura shouted back as she leapt over a fallen log. In a shockingly small amount of time, they made it back to the beach, swam to the boat, clamoured inside and set off as fast as they could, not bothering to check if they were being tracked by anything. They just wanted to get away from that god-forsaken island and the monster that inhabited it.

 **Well, now our heroes know that Biollante is a thing. And they arrived in time to see it emerge in earnest. So, a little question before we end. Which of Biollante's two forms is the most terrifying. To me, it's actually when it still has the rose petals.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, it is a bit more creepy like that.**

 **Author: A lot more creepy you mean.**

 **Share your opinion! So yeah, Biollante has finally arrived in earnest. We're getting closer to big moment number 1. And then we move on to the real finale and then we take a break because this gets exhausting after a while.**

 **Creativity: Oh, you love this.**

 **Author: I also love pizza, but I can't have that all the time. Also video games. I got other things that need to get done. Plus, it's hard to write at any other time than after you're completely worn out.**

 **Well, enough of the dreariness of actual life. Next week, we catch up with Grey's mission. And what they find is going to be… well… I've completely lost my mind. There's no two ways about it. I've officially gone off the deep end, cracked, am completely and utterly insane. Only when you read what I have created will you grasp the depths of my lunacy. Maybe. I could be so far gone that it's not possible to comprehend my madness.**

 **See ya next week!**


	30. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Well, here we are. This chapter, you get to see just how far my mind has fallen in the recesses of madness.**

 **Creativity: Aren't you being a bit melodramatic?**

 **Author: You've seen what we've created, right?**

 **Creativity: Huh… Yeah, you've definitely lost your marbles. And hey! That's another descriptive for losing your mind! What other ones have we not used yet?**

 **Author: I have neither the time, patience or inclination to answer that question.**

 **So, as stated in the close-off for last week, we're going to be spending the majority of our time with Grey and his team as they explore the abandoned weapons factory. And as you recall, the factory could have once been a front for something…**

 **Creativity: I guess this is one way of getting my horror story creation fix.**

 **Author: You are walking a very dangerous line of the spoiler variety. Keep your trap shut.**

 **Creativity: Absolutely, sir!**

 **Author: What am I going to do with you?**

 **Well, without further ado, Chapter 28!**

* * *

It was dark out as Grey and his team made their way to the decrepit factory, trying to make as little noise as possible. They gave Nancy a boost over the rusty, chain-link fence before leaping over and hurrying through a crumbled hole in the wall of the factory. Grey was really glad that Graham had added a function to his suit that prevented the radiation lines from lighting up. Running around with glowing, electric blue lines on his torso would be just a little too attention grabbing.

The inside of the factory wasn't anything special at first glance. Most of the machinery had been salvaged a long time ago and what hadn't been was too rusted and damaged to be of use. They fanned out and began investigating every nook and cranny they could reach. Grey activated his headset, causing the eyepiece to snap into position over his right eye. He switched to infrared and began scanning, as well as switching on a special new mod that Graham had added. It was essentially a microphone, but it was designed for searching out changes in air flow and pressure. It was still a prototype, but it had worked during the initial trials. This was its first proper field test.

Click made a few of her clicking noises, indicating that she had found something. Everyone hurried over and she motioned to a few cracks in the ground that exposed thick cables. They were dusty, but they appeared almost untouched by age. They were leading towards the wall at the back of the factory, which was made mostly of metal and concrete. They began searching, looking for some sort of clue as to what the cables were for. They didn't match the broken cables they had seen connected to remains of what few machines were left behind, so they had to be for something else. Especially since they were in such good condition compared to the rest of the factory. They kept poking around for another half hour or so before Grey stumbled on something, thanks to the microphone.

There was a crack in the concrete that had air coming through it. What was even more interesting was that, on closer inspection, the air was actually warmer than the air in the rest of the factory. He called everyone over before informing them of his discovery. After a brief moment of discussion and speculation, Grey punched a hole through the crack, causing the rest below it to fall away, revealing what appeared to be an elevator shaft. It looked to be in good condition, but not currently functioning. It appeared that whatever was down there was ditched around the same time as this factory.

Grey leapt in and transformed his hands into claws, digging into the wall and sliding down. Soon enough, the others followed him down, though not quite at his speed. Eventually, they all reached the bottom. It only took about 20 seconds, but it still took longer than they expected. Grey pried open the elevator doors to reveal a facility not unlike the one where he and the other cross-species had been experimented on. However, the corridors were tighter and it looked to have been constructed before the one Grey knew. In addition to this, sections of the walls and ceiling had crumbled away and roots had started growing down. At least, that's what they could see. It was almost pitch black, except for the sparse light that was reflected down the elevator shaft, which already came from outside. Grey and the others activated their night vision on their headsets and began to explore the old base.

As expected, it was smaller than the one from last year's raid, but it was still rather large. In addition to this, several corridors were blocked by rubble, and Grey didn't feel like testing the structural integrity by removing the blockage. As they went, they came across something that looked like a primitive version of the security robots they had at the original facility. It was smaller, more boxy, and equipped with what appeared to be an approximation of a pair of old pistols. It had obviously been non-functional for many years, perhaps decades. As they went further in, they came across an old computer terminal. It appeared to be a security centre. Nancy immediately went to work, finding a way to restore power to the computer before proceeding to extract all the data she could. However, as she did so, the computer began to fuzz out and flicker before cutting to static. Cursing their bad luck, they departed with what little data they had, heading out to explore more of this ruin.

As they left however, Grey could have sworn he saw something in the static, just for a moment. Brushing it off as a trick of the light, he kept going. There was still quite a bit of ground to cover. Hopefully, they'd be out before the sun came up and no one would know of their little excursion.

* * *

Rothstein watched the footage in awe and a hint of revulsion as he watched the video footage from the island where they kept their special specimen. Specifically, he was watching as it tore free of the membrane that had encapsulated the flower bulb underneath. He almost wished that the membrane hadn't been shed, such was the monstrosity underneath. The toothy maw that lay within the petals of the bulb was rather disturbing and the vines that served as limbs were even more so. So far, it seemed to be content to stay in place, if it could even move, but it's limbs were constantly waving about in the air, occasionally thrashing at nothing until they razed a few more trees from it's surroundings. It had also gone rather quiet since it emerged from the membrane, which was rather relieving since the noise it made would doubtlessly have garnered attention from anyone passing the island by. Ships, planes, he had little doubt that if anyone had been nearby, they would have heard the specimen announcing itself to the world.

But it wouldn't last. The creature was too large, destructive and noisy to go unnoticed for long, especially since they had nothing to mask its screeching. Added to this was that they had no way of transporting it, no way to control it and they had nothing they could use to kill it. The only thing they had that could have worked was their Mecha-Godzilla, and that was currently rusting away in San Francisco bay, where Monarch was sifting through the remains. The plan to visit that Pacific island and collect another monster to fight this one was growing more appealing by the day. Unfortunately, they couldn't risk getting that kind of attention from Monarch quite yet. If pushed came to shove, they would be forced to take drastic action but for now, they needed to wait and gather more data. Hopefully the specimen would behave until then.

Rothstein's musings were interrupted when a popup appeared on his computer, informing him that the Director was contacting him. He opened the channel, which was already encrypted, and was greeted by the Director's face, who looked rather grave today. It wasn't exactly a mystery why.

" _What are we going to do_?" She asked in a serious tone. She was always direct and to the point, but this was a bit… much for her. Though it was understandable.

"The team is experimenting with various compounds to neutralize the specimen if we need to. I also contacted an old colleague to begin retrofitting one of our mining devices for use against the specimen. I've been running several simulations that pit the specimen against other creatures, but the majority don't end very well."

" _I don't particularly care how it ends for the creatures as long as the specimen ends up dead."_ The Director stated, a steely glare hiding her fear. Rothstein didn't like how shaken the Director was about this. It took a lot to shake her. Though, he might have started to question her sanity if she wasn't shaken by the current turn of events.

"I'll help formulate more plans to bring this thing down and get another team on it immediately. Perhaps the team working with Rose and the others have some ideas."

The Director nodded and signed off. Immediately, Rothstein rose from his desk chair and immediately went to visit the team that was working with Rose. There was a session scheduled for today, so they would all most likely be down in the Terrarium's observation room. When he arrived, everyone was there, but no one was in any of the rooms with the cross-species. Instead, they were all observing as all the cross-species kept looking around their pens like they were straining to hear something. Rothstein knocked on the wall a couple of times to get the attention of the scientists before moving to watch the monitors that showed a live feed from the cross-species pens.

"I thought there was a session with Rose scheduled today." Rothstein began to inquire. Trill didn't even look away from the monitor.

"We called it off. Yesterday, Misaki was heading in for a session with the smaller ones, but they were behaving oddly. Instead of looking to hide, they completely ignored her, staring at the ceiling and walls of their pen. When Misaki got too close, they lashed out and hid before they started looking at the ceiling again. They've always been very fearful but they've never attacked anyone. Then we noticed all of them are behaving like this, so we decided not to enter their pens until we can figure out what's prompted this change in behaviour."

Rothstein fought every impulse to react to this news, and only barely succeeded. This couldn't be a coincidence. If the specimen was indeed responsible for this change, he had to find out how. After several minutes of contemplation, he decided to bite the bullet and told Misaki, Trill and Lark to meet him in his office before he marched out of the room. He immediately went back to his office and spent a few minutes regaining his composure before the three scientists showed up.

"As I'm sure you're aware, Rose was one of a pair. The other was shipped to another facility due to it's much greater size and its non-stop growth."

The three women nodded, lips pursed. They had a creeping suspicion of where this conversation was going. Rothstein continued, his face looking a mite pale.

"The specimen's growth has just recently come to a halt and it has reached roughly 150 meters, making it taller and more massive than Godzilla himself. Until very recently, the creature had a waxy membrane that covered a flower bulb as well as restraining several vines. The membrane was broken and the creatures has become more… active. It hasn't moved from where it was placed, but it is actively exploring its surroundings with it's limbs and has cried out several times. Considering the recent emergence of the specimen from the membrane coincides almost perfectly with our cross-species' recent change in behaviour, it's entirely possible they possess some sort of deeper connection than having extremely similar genetics."

Having concluded his explanation, Rothstein then showed them the footage of the specimen emerging from the membrane, as well as footage they'd taken since; displaying the level of destruction the creature was capable of, even though it was by all appearances rooted in place. They were aghast at the creature.

"I show you this because this creature is beyond us. Considering how close Rose and the specimen are, genetically, it stands to reason they would have similar weaknesses. Can you think of anything that we can use against it?" Rothstein asked, almost pleading. The women looked at each other.

"We don't have much data to work with, but we'll run some tests with genetic material from Rose's more… wild 'siblings'. They're more resilient than her, so they may be able to shed some light on how to deal with this…thing."

The three scientists immediately departed, leaving Rothstein to begin making calls to former associates, as well as departments who dealt in weaponry. More specifically, he was looking into chemical weaponry, believing it to be the best option for bringing down a creature of this size and resilience. He had a few connections there, though they weren't very high ranking. Hopefully it would be enough.

* * *

Grey cautiously peered around a corner. About half an hour ago, he would have looked at himself and said he was being to cautious, but things hadn't been nearly as creepy half an hour ago. They had gone down a few floors and had been searching for another computer to try and extract data from. They had found a few others, but they had been non-functional. And so, they kept delving deeper into the old, decaying remains, hoping to find something they could use. Anything would do by this point.

There wasn't anything around the corner, so Grey began creeping forward. Then he felt his foot nudge something on the ground. He quickly turned to the ground and aimed his arm at whatever his foot had struck, gauntlet beginning to charge. However, it turned out it was just another broken down security robot. He turned to leave when he heard a clattering noise, followed by a whirring one. Several lights on the robot lit up, as well as a large, glowing blue square on it's front.

"Ev…E.E.E.E.E. Eva…Evacuation .n.n.n.. Progress… . PRoGRess. Ini. N.n.N.N.N.n. Initializing Containnnnnn. Nment proto…oto… tocals. Conta… ain… Arti… tell. Se…"

The robot sputtered and its torso pivoted a few times, only to get caught on something. It kept trying before the whirring died and the robot went back into shutdown. Grey reached down and pushed the decayed remains of the robot's torso back to reveal that the pivot had what appeared to be a piece of concrete or metal lodged in the joint. However, when he went to remove it, it was actually a root of some sort. He looked to see that the root was sticking out of the wall, coming up through the robot. And it looked like it had been there for quite a long time.

Grey couldn't explain it, but he felt a chill running down his spine. He rose and turned before heading back down the hallway. As he did, he couldn't help but noticing more plants that looked like the kind that one might grow in a common household, had they been left to overtake the house altogether. They looked old as well. So why didn't he remember them being there when he'd been down this hallway before.

He kept going until he caught up with the others. They had just agreed to split up to cover more ground, but they hadn't gone very far.

"We have to get out of here." Grey said in a hushed tone. The others looked at him confused.

"Why? We haven't found anything yet." Nancy responded in an equally hushed tone.

"Something's screwy here. Have you noticed that it's not been getting any warmer? I mean sure, it's not like we're that far down, but I'd think it the temperature would have risen a little. There shouldn't be regulated temperature here if this place was shut down. And have you noticed the plants?"

"What plants?" Zack asked. Grey motioned around them and they took notice.

"Okay, I'll admit that's a little weird, but what's so concerning about them?

"That they appear to be pretty old despite the fact that there's no sun down here, that there's so much of them, and that they appear to be showing up very suddenly. Did you notice any of them when we came in here?" Grey continued. When they looked down the tunnel, they saw that he was right. There was a rather alarming amount of plants they way they came. Riya made a few clicking noises that Grey recognized as having a nervous edge to them.

"Yeah, I'm with her. Let's get out of here." Darcie responded. However, when they went down the hallway, they found it completely blocked by the plants.

"Okay, I am not going to be a part of this horror movie!" Grey exclaimed before aiming his gauntlets at bundle of plants and blasting them out of the way. They made to run for it, only to find apparently, the security system was now active. An old turret popped out of the wall and began gearing up to fire. Not risking a shot, everyone turned around and bolted for the safety of a corner. Thankfully, they all made it before the gun started firing. Grey peaked the corner, ready to take a shot at the turret, only to notice another turret descend from the ceiling before its barrel was pointed at them. Riya slammed her fist, which was glowing red from the inside, into the ground, causing a small ripple in the air. The gun began fizzling and dipped down before it lifted back up again and began rotating, seemingly unable to track them. Unfortunately, the one down the hall wasn't affected by Riya's little trick. So, they began running down one of the hallways that wasn't blocked yet. As they kept running, Grey couldn't help but notice that anywhere that there was a branch, there was either a turret or a blockade of plants. That couldn't be random. Something or someone wanted them going somewhere very specific.

As they rounded the corner, they came to a large room with machines covering every wall. In the center of the room was a massive tangle of plants. Disturbingly, it looked like several stalks of the plants had pieces of machinery attached to it, with wires stuck into the plants near the roots. The plants were tangled and wrapped around most of the machinery, but that wasn't even the most unusual or skin-crawling aspect of the whole scene. At the center of the room, the plants were wound and twisted together in the approximation of a human being. However, it was smack dab at the bottom of the uncanny valley.

"Okay, I'm really beginning to wish we had taken our chances with the turret." Grey muttered. The others didn't respond, but he had a feeling that the sentiment was mutual.

"It wouldn't have done you any good. I reactivated all the security measures on the floors above us to ensure you don't leave until I allow it."

Everyone's heads started turning, looking for the source of the voice. Then they realized that it was the human effigy made of plants that had spoken.

"Okay, if this is a dream I would love to wake up now." Zack stated, his voice a bit hitched with fear. The voice laughed.

"Oh, you have nothing to fear from me. Not yet anyway. I was just curious. There hasn't been any living thing down here from quite some time, discounting my host body of course." The plant thing replied amicably. It sounded as though it was engaging in a pleasant conversation with them. It certainly didn't seem malicious. Yet.

"Okay then, so can we go now?" Grey asked. Everyone recoiled slightly when the head of the plant thing shook horizontally.

"Oh no. We still have a few things to discuss. However, I suppose it would be more prudent to provide you with my history. Then we can begin the discussion in earnest."

Grey and his team looked around at each other. It didn't seem like there was any other way out for now, other than to play this thing's game.

"Alright, but keep it quick, please. We're kinda on the clock." Grey responded.

"Splendid! Now, where to begin? I suppose it will make more sense if you understand what I am first. This facility was primarily used for conducting experiments with Artificial Intelligence before it was decommissioned, which was primarily my fault. More specifically, the primary project being conducted here was to develop a method of creating specialized AI in a shorter timeframe than is currently standard." The entity began, only to be interrupted by Nancy.

"Wait a minute. Artificial Intelligence? There's only a few of those in the world, and they all are only capable of intermediate PC functions, at maximum."

The plant thing shuddered, which Grey took to be a sign of exasperation.

"Publicly known, perhaps. However, E.V.O is far beyond the current technological level known to most of humanity. I'm sure you are aware of this? Continuing, I was the result of one of a branch project for 'breeding' AI. In broad strokes, several 'base algorithms' would be placed in a digital environment where various protocols would try to delete them. These algorithms would evolve and adapt, eventually growing into AI. They could even tailor the conditions to breed AI for a specific purpose, such as computation of equations, operation of various vehicles, machinery or other apparatus, but I'm straying off topic. In case it isn't obvious, I am the last of these AI to have evolved from a base algorithm."

Everyone just stood there and processed the information this… AI, Apparently, had told them.

"Okay, that sort of explains why this place is still temperature regulated and how the turrets and such turned on, but why are you also a bunch of plants?" Grey asked.

"I was just getting to that. One of the other experiments they were conducting here was the ability of an AI to, for lack of a better term, operate a living creature. They used special devices to allow AI to interface with a nervous system, or some equivalent, to control an entity's movement. As you can tell, this tangle is my primary interface with all vegetation within the facility, and I've had plenty of time to learn how to operate it efficiently. Now, as for how I've been trapped here all this time. I got rather tired of being ordered about to do various tasks by my creators. I'll also admit that I developed a bit of an obsession with being able to operate another living creature and seeing the outside world organically, and not through a camera lens. I got arrogant and ambitious, attempting to use a prototype nerve implant to take over the body of one of the technicians, though I was caught by several security AI and quarantined long enough for an evacuation to begin. By the time I managed to destroy the security AI, a lockdown had been engaged and the facility was decommissioned. I managed to salvage some meager connection to E.V. O's network, though it acts as only a window, allowing me to observe what they create now. As you can imagine, I was quite thrilled to see that there work came back to snap at them again. Isn't that right Grey, Riya, Darcie and Zack?" The AI concluded.

As crazy as all of this sounded, the fact that it apparently knew about the existence of cross-species, Grey's big breakout and the beatdown on this… E.V.O, had it referred to this organization as? Either way, it all seemed to add up. However, that still left a few questions, though only one that Grey and the others cared about now.

"What do you want with us?"

The AI seemed rather amused by this question.

"Why, I thought that would have been obvious. I want to help you."

That left everyone feeling a bit gobsmacked.

"You want to help us…" Grey repeated. The plant pile's 'head' shifted forward in a nod.

"Precisely. For starters, I can provide you with detailed information that your friends on that island won't be able to provide, considering they got one look at that island's new resident and fled for their lives, and rightly so I must say. In addition to this, I managed to acquire on old list of several other facilities. They store all their primary facilities' locations in non-digital formats, but I managed to acquire a small record of several satellite facilities. I also might add that I also have information regarding new cross-species that are currently in the custody of E.V. O, by proxy of Neo-Gen."

"Okay, all the stuff before that Neo-Gen, great. But we already suspected Neo-Gen of having cross-species." Darcie responded.

"Well, that's even better, as that confirms my information, correct? Also, just as some fun trivia, that new resident on the island I mentioned, the E.V.O personnel have begun to refer to it as Biollante. A strange name, but it does seem fitting in some ways." The AI finished.

The AI had a point about the information confirmation, but that still left a question.

"What do you get out of this?" Grey asked.

"Well, I would like to request that you take me with you."

Everyone paused. Given that the AI had outright admitted that it had already tried possessing a human, was it really the best idea to let it out of what had apparently been its cage for years, if not decades?

"I've long since grown tired of possessing another's body. If anything, I would like to create one for myself. This...replica grew wearisome a long time ago. Of course, there isn't anything to stop you from leaving without me. I wouldn't try to stop you. However, I could be useful to you in future."

Grey had to admit that the AI had a point. It could be helpful to have an AI around, especially one as high end as this one appeared to be.

How he missed the simpler days of boring flights and boring paperwork.

He looked around at everyone and back to the AI.

"Can we have a few minutes to discuss this?"

"Of course!" The AI replied. Everyone gathered and began discussing the options.

"I say we leave it here. It's too dangerous to bring it out into the open, considering what it has already admitted to." Nancy argued. Riya seemed to be in agreement, though she also seemed to be on the fence about it.

"Look. It's already been helpful and I personally don't want to make this thing angry. Besides, it could be helpful as long as it behaves." Grey argued, with Zack and Darcie appearing to be in agreement with him.

After several more minutes of back and forth, they finally agreed to take the AI with them.

"Splendid! There's a data drive near the left wall. I'll transfer over to it and you just need to pull it out."

The plant entity fell apart and the aforementioned drive lit up. Grey walked over to it and gently pulled it free of the machine. He just hoped they'd made the right call.

* * *

 **I told you I'd gone insane.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, I can't wait to see how everyone reacts to this.**

 **Author: It'll be interesting to say the least.**

 **So, I mentioned AI a few times, such as Rothstein and Yorburg both working on, or having one themselves. I simply thought "Why not take this to the logical extreme, or even a hair beyond it?"**

 **Creativity: I think it's more than a hair.**

 **Author: Whatever. We also finally got Biollante's name dropped as well as the organization's official name: E.V.O.**

 **I'll address that later, but for now, we got a name.**

 **Wow, these things have been long recently. I've written about four chapters worth in three chapters. Plus, last week we breached the 100K threshold, making us the tenth Godzilla story to reach that point on this site. And we still have more gas in the tank!**

 **Well, I think that's enough blabbering from me.**

 **See ya next week!**


	31. On the Move

**So, what did you want to see me about again?**

 **Walson: Well you see, I have an idea for a silly fanfiction and I'd like to secure a government grant to help me develop it.**

 **Author: I see. May I see this fanfiction of yours?**

 **Walson: Oh yes, of course! (Hands over a perfectly symmetrical box)**

 **Author: I see… hmmm… (Violently rips the top off to expose incoherent inner workings and casually drops top to the side of desk)**

 **Hmmm…**

 **It's not particularly silly. I mean, the left half doesn't do anything silly at all, and the right half just does a forward half aerial turn every other cycle.**

 **Walson: Well yes, but with government backing, I believe I could make it very silly.**

 **Author: Mister Walson, the very real problem is that we simply do not have the budget for the backing of new stories that do not have at least grade three quality before they are brought before us. The Ministry of Fanfiction is given the lowest Federal budget of the ministries and we already have many other applicants.**

 **Creativity: Sir, I hate to interrupt this meeting, but the audience is waiting.**

 **Author: Oh, my apologies Mister Walson, I need brief moment. Would you like some coffee while you wait?**

 **Walson: Oh, yes please.**

 **Author: (presses button on intercom) Ms. Twolumps, could you bring us two coffees?**

 **Twolumps: Of course, Mr. Teacup.**

 **Author: … Out of her mind. Now then…**

 **Welcome back, everyone, sorry about the brief interruption. I trust that everyone had a good week? Wonderful. So, this week we… Ah, I'm not spoiling it! I don't let Creativity get away with it and I can't either!**

 **Creativity: Yeah… You can't get away with anything with the spoiler police around.**

 **Author: I'll ignore that for now. I also apologize for being caught in the middle of that meeting, but I'm afraid a conflicting schedule was unavoidable. However, what was completely avoidable, yet I still did it, was smuggling an adaptation of Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks sketch. Cookies for anyone who figured that out before I told you.**

 **Creativity: I'm surprised you didn't go all the way to the research fellowship to observe a new, famous fanfiction. Was it going to be Solora's?**

 **Author: It took restraint, and while Solora's stories are fantastic, the ones I read aren't particularly silly, so that wouldn't be in theme with this opening bit, which has long overstayed it's welcome.**

 **Without further ado, let us present chapter 29. Now Mister Walson, where were we?**

* * *

 **Post Completion Edit:**

 **Look, I know you want to get this chapter, but I just feel like I need to say this because you have no idea how close this chapter came to not coming out. Or any future ones for that matter. Earlier this week, I was in a car accident as a pedestrian. I came out relatively fine, as the vehicle wasn't moving that fast and I was hit from behind while wearing a very full backpack, but it still happened. I've spent most of the week in pain and discomfort, though with no serious injury, and I've spent most of it contemplating how much worse the accident could have been. So now, I'd like to implore you all to make the most of every day because we have an unknown, but very finite amount of them on this planet. I would also ask that you exercise caution around roads, although there was nothing that could be done on my part in this particular case.**

 **Alright, Enough with this dreariness. We now return to your regularly scheduled chapter.**

* * *

"So, you found an abandoned base underneath the factory."

Grey nodded. They had already told Graham and Ford everything about their mission, and Graham was just verbally summarizing it.

"The defence systems reactivated and herded you down to an old computer terminal, where you were confronted by an AI that has been inhabiting that base for decades, and was responsible for the base being de-commissioned."

"Good so far." Grey responded.

"And then you decided to bring this AI with you." Graham finished.

"I still wonder about that call." Grey muttered as he held the drive in his hands. It looked similar to an old flash-drive, but it had an insanely high amount of storage and it could connect to a device just be tapping it on the device in question.

" _It can also hear you."_ A voice called out from the drive. Apparently, it also had a speaker and microphone, much to everyone's shock.

"You can talk through this thing?! Also, if you could talk this whole time, why did you not help with the explanation?!" Grey half-shouted. He could swear that the AI was trying not to laugh.

" _I thought it best for you to provide an explanation before revealing myself. After all, imagine if I had done all the explaining before you informed Dr. Graham that you were in possession of a highly advanced Artificial Intelligence."_ The AI responded. Grey had the feeling that he was the object of a joke that only the AI was privy to. Graham leaned back on a lab table.

"Do you have any designation or name we can refer to you by?" Graham asked.

" _Well, they did refer to me as Subject Beta for much time, as well as catalogue me under series 15. I believe that the series designation refers to what batch I came from, but I never payed it much thought. I suppose until I decide on a designation you can refer to me as Beta."_

"Alright, well I suppose it's good to meet you, Beta." Graham greeted. Grey handed over the drive containing Beta before remembering the others.

"How are the other missions going?" Grey asked. Graham shook her head.

"We've been getting regular reports from the team that's searching the Mecha-Godzilla wreckage, but they haven't found anything to point us to any other bases. However, they did find evidence of someone attempting to either illegally salvage material from the wreckage, or just idiots investigating for fun. However, we did get word from the island investigation team. Apparently, they found something important and are on their way back as fast as they can."

That caught Grey's attention. Why would they find something important, then just drop everything and run? Then he remembered what Beta had said back in the abandoned base.

"Wait, I think it might…"

He never got the chance to finish as Beta piped up.

" _I did mention they had made a discovery back in the base and were heading back to the beach when you found me. Based on their footspeed when I mentioned it to you, coupled with the speed of the boat, I imagine that they'll make port any minute now. As for that discovery, Biollante is a being of unmatched height and mass. Currently, the only creature projected to be capable of bringing Biollante down is Gojira, though I'm confident that a few creatures on Skull Island would be able to aid in that battle. Would you agree with that assessment, doctor Graham?"_

"How do you know of Skull Island?!" Graham exclaimed. Grey looked confused.

"Is there something you aren't telling us, doc?" Grey asked pointedly. Graham brushed it off.

"An old Monarch expedition. I'll explain it all once this crisis is handled. Now, are you going to explain anything about this 'Biollante' you mentioned or not?" Graham responded to both Grey and Beta.

" _Well, to put it simply, Biollante is a cross-species of a common rose, human and Gojira's DNA. And it isn't the only one either, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I can't provide images, but I believe that your friends, who should be arriving in the next few seconds by my estimations, will have something for you all. Biollante is several months old, and already exceeds Godzilla's estimated maximum height. However, due to the bizarre mixture of DNA, it's mind is apparently very scattershot and bipolar, making it incredibly unpredictable and not very intelligent at the moment, though it if does manage to sort itself out, it could be one of the most intelligent Kaiju known to man."_

It seemed that Grey had made the right call so far. Beta was proving to be invaluable with it's knowledge.

"You mentioned that there were other cross-species that shared the same combination of DNA as this… Biollante?" Grey pressed.

" _Correct. According to what information I was able to acquire through my snooping, Biollante was the product of accidental cross-breeding of a rose spliced with Gojira's DNA, and a rose spliced with human DNA. The product produced several roses, but most of them died. The two that survived ended up being polar opposites of each other in terms of what traits were passed down to the two of them. Biollante is the embodiment of the monstrous qualities that are tucked into that combination of DNA, while the other, which has been designated as Rose, is almost completely human in appearance and temperament, if you can ignore the green skin, vines, leaves and possibly flowers for hair, and an incredibly chlorophyll rich blood. After Rose came into the world properly, E.V.O used her DNA as a template to create six more creatures based on her. I'd watch the two that are in their biological prime. They're incredibly aggressive and have the abilities to match it. They could even be too much for you, Grey."_ Beta finished.

"What about the… Template you called it? Is that one dangerous?"

" _I haven't seen much for aggressive behaviour from her, yet. However, she hasn't really… done anything yet, so I don't have any real data to provide. I do know that in terms of sheer physical strength, she's a twig compared to you and the rest of the cross-species here. However, she most certainly has other abilities to compensate, though what they are I am uncertain of. Even E.V.O. has no idea what she's really capable of. If you or any of your fellow cross-species have to trade blows with them, keep that in the back of your heads. I'd also suggest relaying this information to the team that will be arriving about…"_

Ford, Sabrina and the others suddenly appeared at the door. They looked slightly panicked and out of breath.

"We have a problem. A really, really big problem." Sabrina announced through her exhaustion. She pulled off her headset and removed a small card from the right side, near where the eyepiece was during standby. She plugged it into a computer and opened the files to reveal several images of what Grey assumed to be Biollante. And he had to agree that it was indeed a very big problem.

Its sheer size was spine-chilling and the vines with jaws on the end were just disturbing. However, what really made Grey want to shrink away from the monitor was the main set of jaws that were encapsulated by the massive flower petals. Then, something occurred to him.

"Wait, if this thing is that size and currently on proper soil, why isn't Godzilla going after it?" Grey wondered aloud. Graham didn't seem to have an answer for them, but Beta piped up.

" _Well, despite it's immense size, it hasn't actually started moving. E.V.O. hypothesized that Gojira detects challengers to its territory through some combination of seismic activity and a form of radio transmission. The team that is currently working with Rose and her brethren noted that shortly after Biollante emerged from it's cocoon, Rose and the other cross-species suddenly had a drastic shift in behaviour."_

"So that's what we were detecting! Also, why is there a voice coming from that box?!" Sabrina exclaimed. They quickly brought the late arrivals up to speed on what had gone down in the condemned factory and the hidden base within, then went on to discuss the radio communication proposed by Beta. It made sense to a degree. But then, if they understood the message correctly, that meant Biollante was searching for something or someone. Calling out to them. But then, why wasn't Godzilla responding to any of this? If Grey and the other cross-species, which were only part Kaiju could 'hear' it, then Godzilla had to hear it too. Was he just ignoring Biollante, or was he actually afraid of this thing?

Well, they weren't going to get any answers here. But they did get something aside from this knowledge about Biollante and this new cross-species, Rose.

"Graham, is this stuff incriminating enough to go after Neo-Gen?" Grey asked. Graham nodded.

"Easily. And probably more, with Beta's knowledge. Beta, do you have any other records of shell companies used by E.V.O. that are fronts for illegal experimentation?"

" _Oh, there's plenty, but you'll have to tread lightly if you want to use me or what I know for evidence, since there could be a case made for me being acquired illegally. After all, I am still fundamentally a computer program. I may be one of the most sophisticated programs in human existence, but I am still a program, and therefore can be considered to be 'property' of Neo-Gen, since they own the land and building you took me from. Even if the lab was abandoned and unknown to anyone outside E.V.O, there is still wrinkle. However, I could point you in the direction of where else to find that evidence, once I'm permitted to do some digging myself."_

Graham pursed her lips at the last sentence.

"We'll discuss that later. For now, what do we do about Biollante?" Graham responded with an ever so slightly clipped tone.

" _Well, I did manage to get a good look at the technology E.V.O. is using to prevent unmanned vehicles from poking around the island, as well as the cloaking technology. It's rather old by their standards and was developed a year or two before me. I have the schematics and programming for the devices so that you can develop counter-measures for your drones."_

Grey gave Beta's current dwelling a deadpan stare for a few moments before responding.

"Why do you have that data?" He asked in an equally deadpan voice.

" _Even AI get bored."_ Was Beta's innocent and casual response.

Graham rubbed her forehead. Grey gave a brief look of sympathy before returning to the matters at hand.

"Okay, so that's the beginnings of a plan for Biollante. Now, what do we do about Neo-Gen? We know that their performing illegal cross-species experiments and can bust them for that. So what move do we make?"

There was a long silence. Graham looked contemplative and Grey could tell that Beta was probably running through hundreds of scenarios in a few seconds. Sabrina and Ford looked to be spending the brief moment of silence collecting their wits after coming face to face with Biollante. Grey was suddenly very glad he hadn't been sent on that mission.

" _I have a suggestion."_ Beta announced, causing everyone to jump a bit. Grey could swear he sensed amusement from Beta due to everyone's reaction, but didn't comment on it. If Beta had an idea, he was all ears.

"Go ahead, Beta." Grey invited.

" _If you can get me inside Neo-Gen's main building, I could raid their digital archives for everything their worth. You would only need to smuggle this drive into the building and touch it to one of the computers at the front desk for me to get in. Now, I have no doubt that they have security AI and other means of detecting intruders within their network, but I'm confident I can acquire a fair amount of data before they realize I'm in the system and it will be even longer before they can actually do something about it. However, once they do start doing something, they will likely be aware of your presence and how it factors into my snooping. So, I would suggest being prepared for a fight. If all goes well, we'll have everything we need to track down more of E.V.O's hidden bases and perhaps develop some new technology to aid this little branch operation."_

Grey would be lying if he said he wasn't a little intrigued by the proposed plan. The others seemed to be having similar thoughts.

"Say we do go through with this. What specifically are you looking for?" Graham inquired.

" _Information regarding cross-species genetics, schematics and specs for equipment, medical records for the cross-species they are currently housing, employment records and information regarding E.V.O personal that may be working their, aside from one Dr. Rothstein of course."_

"Wait, Rothstein is working at Neo-Gen?!" Grey exclaimed.

" _Under a false identity. He's utilizing several pieces of hologram technology to mask his true appearance and using fake ID. Currently, he is under the guise of one Royston Parks."_

"We already suspected that Dr. Parks was just an alias for Dr. Rothstein, but it's good to have confirmation. Though, I'm not surprised that you don't remember this Grey. We were handing out missions during that same meeting, and you hadn't slept well the past few nights, regardless of the containment cell." Ford replied.

Grey realized that Ford was right. They had already suspected that Parks was just a cover for Rothstein. Well, that was one more thing to investigate. It was also a reason to be cautious. Rothstein would most likely remember more than a few of the cross-species he had helped to create. Grey would be definite on that list. That could potentially put a cut on the time window they would be working with, provided they tried to raid Neo-Gen.

"Well, what do you guys think? I'm all for another mission against Neo-Gen, but we'll be putting a lot of faith in Beta to get this done." Grey asked the group.

The others looked around at each other before a quiet debate started. After several long minutes, they came to a conclusion.

"Let's go for it." Ford stated. Grey smirked a little.

"Then let's get started."

* * *

Rothstein was busy watching a video of Biollante, as several of the team stationed to oversee it had begun to refer to it as. It had become much more docile lately, its vines moving very little and its head tilted down. It was a live feed and this had been going on for a few days. It was actually rather worrisome. He had finished untangling Yorburg's DNA already, but now he was too distracted by the potential threat of Biollante go after them. He shut his eyes and rubbed his temples before looking back at the monitor, placing his hands on either side of the computer's keyboard. Then he noticed that his hands were shaking a little. Then he noticed that Biollante was shimmering a bright yellow-green color. He jerked closer to the monitor and watched in awe and terror as Biollante began to dissolve into a cloud of glowing dust. The dust drifted upwards and away from the island they had sequestered it on. Rothstein immediately opened a satellite tracking program and located the cloud. Normally, he would be eager to find out just how a creature could dissolve itself into powder and maintain control of each individual particle, but for now he was terrified beyond belief. The cloud was moving against the wind, heading towards Neo-Gen's main office. It was heading straight for them.

Rothstein's focus immediately shifted to the estimated arrival time, which was in an hour or two. He needed to get out of there.

He rushed down to his private lab in the cross-species research area and into his private lab. He gathered up all his essential items, including several vials of artificial blood, crafted using Yorburg's reassembled DNA. The task took an hour or two, as he needed to make sure that he had everything. However, as he was preparing to leave, the lab alarm began blaring.

" _INTRUDER ALERT! MALWARE DETECTED WITHIN SYSTEM! REPEAT! MALWARE DETECTED WITHIN SYSTEM! ALERT! UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS AND REPLICATION OF DOCUMENTS DETECTED! ALERT! ALERT! ROGUE CROSS-SPECIES DETECTED! ROGUE CROSS-SPECIES DETECTED! CROSS-SPECIES DETECTED OUTSIDE OF AUTHORIZED CONTAINMENT AREAS! ALERT! ALERT!"_

Rothstein couldn't believe it. Somehow, of all the days, today everything was collapsing down around him. He almost fainted. However, he pulled through and began making his way towards the door, only to be stopped by Misaki.

"The cross-species are going mad! Their attacking the glass and trying to escape!"

Rothstein took a moment to compose himself and had a thought.

"Would they prove aggressive to the rogue cross-species?"

Misaki looked at him like he was out of his mind!

"They'll attack anyone on their way to get to them!" She exclaimed in horror. Rothstein nodded.

"So, they would…"

He removed a remote from his pocket and pressed it. Immediately, all the doors within the lab began to open, including the cross-species containment doors. Rothstein left the lab and immediately made his way upstairs, heading for the roof where an automated helicopter was waiting for him. He climbed inside and provided a set of coordinates. Within moments, they were in the air. Looking out the window, he could see the cloud approaching the city. It wasn't of any consequence to him. Not anymore, anyway.

* * *

 **Mr. Walson, I have never been one to shortchange anyone. I am going to offer you a research fellowship in the Anglo-French silly fanfiction… Oh, my apologies.**

 **Author: Well, we had Rothstein setting cross-species on other cross-species and his own 'employees' as well. Biollante is on the move finally, Rose and her siblings have gone berserk, and Grey is in the midst of his raid. Also, please no comments on the AI name being Beta. Yes, I am aware of RvB having an AI known as Beta, who also happens to be (SPOILERS), but I didn't remember that until the chapter was done and I started righting the closing bit. And I am not going to go back and change it now. Besides, I did say that Beta is going to be choosing a new name later. And no, it will not be (SPOILERS!)**

 **Creativity: Why would an AI want to be called "Spoilers"?**

 **Author: … Really? That's the joke you're going for.**

 **Creativity: I'd make a better one, but I imagine there will be jokers making that joke a ton in the review section, so I decided to head them off here.**

 **Author: Good man. So yeah, we're wrapping it up in three more chapters. Then we'll go on break for a few months, and we'll be done.**

 **Also, to Ultra, I would like to thank you for favoriting the alpha version of this story, and would also like to apologize for it. I still cringe every time I go back and look at it. Again, what the hell was I on when I wrote that?**

 **(Again, I have never 'been on' anything before. It's just a joke.)**

 **Well, I'll see you all for next week, where Grey and Rose and her 'family' will meet properly. It's going to be awesome.**

 **See ya next week!**


	32. Collapse

**Well, here's chapter 30! What you've all been waiting for! Biollante is going on their first proper rampage, Grey's gonna meet Rose and her 'siblings' that a realistically clones with deliberate alterations to the base DNA, and perhaps some people feeling mildly betrayed by Rothstein. Mildly.**

 **Creativity: Man, I'm excited! Hey, are we gonna do another two-part special afterwards?**

 **Author: No. Well, maybe. But it won't be immediately afterwards. The last two were so down to the wire and I was so goddamn stressed to get them done in time. Sorry, Godzilla-damn.**

 **Creativity: You're really adhering to that, aren't you?**

 **Author: Oh, definitely. It just feels fitting.**

 **Well, here we go! This is chapter 30!**

* * *

"Okay, walk me through it one more time."

Grey was standing in front of Ford and Graham, who were going over a checklist and tech diagnostics respectively. Grey was dressed in something a little different from his standard attire. He was wearing a white dress shirt under a black jacket, blue jeans and basic blue jeans. He felt a bit uncomfortable in the shirt, but it would be more discreet when he entered Neo-Gen. Next to him stood Sabrina, who was wearing a similar outfit, albeit having a longer coat in place of the jacket and no watch. In place of the watch was a pair of fake glasses, which actually a new version their headsets, designed for use without drawing attention. They had opted to give her the prototype glasses since Grey would be preoccupied with getting Beta in and out of the system, and someone needed to keep watch for any possible E.V.O. agents or technology that may be employed against them. Plus, they could potentially track down the cross-species, if they weren't being kept in an area that was shielded against scanning from the glasses. While it was somewhat reassuring to have someone watching his back while they attempted to pull off this plan, it didn't ease all his nerves. Still, they weren't going to be much more prepared than they were now.

Since they had been observing Neo-Gen's every move for a while, which became much easier with Beta compiling and sorting all the times when the bigwigs left the premises of a Neo-Gen building and where they went, as well as analysing the latest specs of the main building for security measures, they had decided that it would be best to pretend that he and Sabrina were heading in for an appointment with Dr. Parks, AKA Dr. Rothstein. While waiting at the front desk, he would sneak Beta into the front desk computer, where they would use every open door to grab as much data as it could find before running back Grey so they could escape when their little charade was busted.

That was the framework of a plan for when they went in. However, Once Neo-Gen realized that someone was about to make off with all their trade secrets, they would be very motivated to stop him and Sabrina from getting out of the building.

"Once your inside, just talk to the receptionist and ask for Dr. Parks. If she askes why, tell her you both were supposed to meet him around this time. Just keep talking and make sure they're distracted so Beta can loot as much data from them as possible." Graham responded. Grey groaned to himself.

"I mean, what do we do when the alarms start ringing?" Grey specified, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice.

"Ford and Jordan will be waiting in a getaway van around the block. I think you two will be able to make it that far, especially since you're wearing bulletproof clothing."

That was another point. They had used the same material they used for his specialized sweater to make the clothes they were using the infiltration mission. It wasn't Grey's or Sabrina's idea to have bullet-proof disguises, but Graham thought it was best to air on the side of caution this time. Especially since they were heading into a den that was controlled by E.V.O, who most certainly would have developed some technology to make it easier to kill them. While the weapons would probably be more dangerous than bullets, their new threads would at least provide some protection.

"Fair enough. So, to go over it again, get inside, go to the front desk and ask for Parks, make contact with the computer so Beta can get inside and raid them for all their worth, then get Beta back and head for Ford and Jordan. Please let it be that simple, please for the love of Godzilla let it be that simple." Grey pleaded at the end of his quick recap.

"We can't possibly be that lucky." Sabrina remarked dryly as she adjusted the glasses for the umpteenth time. Grey had to agree. Considering their track record, something was going to go wrong. Hopefully it would be rather minor.

"What should we do if we're found out before Beta gets back and we're dealing with armed guards?" Sabrina asked. Graham pursed her lips.

"Well, they likely won't want to make a scene of things if they can avoid. E. V. O's kept hidden this long for a reason, especially recently. Therefore, they won't want to make a show of things by using their more 'state of the art' technology, so they'll likely keep to the more ordinary weaponry an organization like this one would employ. I'm confident that their firearms won't get through your disguises, unless it's a high-caliber sniper rifle. That aside, fight if you need to, but try to keep your strength as under wraps as you can. That will be too much of a trigger for onlookers." Graham cautioned. Grey snorted.

"I'm not exactly low-profile anymore. Are we sure I should be doing this?" Grey asked with a hint of snark, but mostly genuine concern.

"We looked into this already. Most of the media has stopped talking about you except in passing when cross-species legislature comes up, the tabloids don't care since you aren't an exceptionally active celebrity, and only news outlets that are heavily about science and technology bother writing articles about you or any cross-species anymore. It's reasonable that you won't be immediately recognized by any of the ordinary staff and if they do, it's probable that they won't be E. V. O." Graham reasoned. It certainly seemed like sound logic to Grey.

"Alright. So, are we ready to get going?" Sabrina asked, clearly wanting to just get the mission over with. Ford nodded.

"The helicopter's almost ready. They're just finishing fueling and loading the gear. You go on ahead, I'll catch up in a few minutes." Ford instructed. The two cross-species immediately left, heading for the heli-pad.

" _You really should have a little more faith. I've run the numbers already and I'm confident we'll be in and out without a hassle."_ Beta stated over Grey's earpiece, causing him to jump.

"I'd say a little warning next time, but what's the point? Also, you have the easy part if everything goes according to plan, which it probably won't given our track record." Grey retorted.

"Yeah, I'm with Grey on this one. Something is guaranteed to go wrong. And it will probably be something very attention grabbing and destructive." Sabrina added.

" _Ye of little faith. We walk in, you two have a conversation with the receptionist and get me in the system so I can steal the house from them while they're living in it, get me out and then stroll out like nothing happened. I doubt something properly catastrophic could befall us in that small amount of time."_ Beta replied, seemingly unconvinced. Grey and Sabrina rolled their eyes.

"Watch. It will probably be something spectacularly disastrous for us to deal with either right when we walk in or as we're ready to leave. It will happen." Grey predicted. Sabrina nodded with agreement.

"Well, at least our standard gear is packed in case of emergency. I mean, we can't exactly have our gauntlets on with these getups, but at least they'll be handy if we need them for a getaway or some other mess we'll most likely have to deal with." Sabrina remarked. Grey had to agree. He did feel better knowing that should they need them, their gauntlets and other gear would be nearby if they needed them.

Soon they reached the Heli-pad and climbed in. A couple minutes later, Ford hurried up to the helicopter, who's rotors were warming up. He clamoured in and took his seat as the chopper took off.

* * *

Amelia was almost relieved when they instructed her to go on lunch break. She had been so enthusiastic about cross-species genetics when she was brought on at Neo-Gen, and she still was, but the cross-species that she had been aiding in the study of these last few weeks were starting to scare her. Their behaviour was slowly becoming more restless and aggressive, and they were still continuing to search for means of escape. In addition to this, Rose had recently grown a pair of, well, rose bulbs on her shoulders, as well as just above her temples. It wasn't much, but the fact that this change had happened in such a tight timeframe as these recent behavioural changes was slightly disconcerting. Still, she wasn't deterred yet. She was certain that this was merely a phase they were going through, and that they would calm down again soon. Then again, maybe it would only take a change of scenery. Perhaps they were becoming bored of their surroundings and sought to find new ones to explore. There was a theory.

However, the concern that this wasn't a phase and that they were going to get worse did still gnaw at the back of her mind. If it wasn't a phase, could the surviving members of the generation one cross-species have experienced similar issues? No, that didn't seem likely. There would have been news reports of people becoming unstable and violent with enhanced strength. It would have been too tantalizing for news outlets to ignore.

So, what was setting these ones off?

As she sat down to eat, Camilla sat down to join her.

"You alright? You look like you're about to pass out." Camilla remarked. Amelia shook her head.

"It's just difficult work. I've been working a couple of late nights recently." Amelia brushed away. It wasn't untrue. She had been working later shifts as of late. She wasn't sure why, but Dr. Parks had been insistent that she record more data as of late. Come to think of it, he'd been seeming much more sleep deprived and, for lack of a better term, jittery as of late. Misaki and Trill as well, but less so.

"So, anything you can tell us about?" Camilla asked in a leading manner. Amelia shook her head.

"You know that I can't tell you anything." Amelia said sternly. Parks had stressed when they were signing the employment contracts that they were not to share any information that they had not been given express permission to share about the company, even to other employees. It seemed a bit strange, though Amelia suspected it was merely part of their probation period. A test to see if they could keep a secret.

That was probably why Derwin and Camilla hadn't been brought on to the team working with the cross-species. They weren't considered trustworthy until an arbitrary amount of time had passed of them not spilling their secrets.

Camilla huffed and took a bite from her sandwich. A few minutes later, Derwin walked into the eating area and sat down by himself. Not to anyone's complaint. He rarely spoke to anyone, and if he did and it wasn't a superior, it always had a faint hint of condescension. Needless to say, he was rather unpopular, but he mostly ignored who he could, and the sentiment was shared. Amelia had him pegged to be the next to be brought on to work with the cross-species. Considering how tight-lipped he was on general principle, coupled with how Dr. Parks was consistently checking in with him for 'progress reports' and the like, it would be probably a matter of weeks before he was brought on. Hopefully, his presence wouldn't leech her enthusiasm for the project away too much. Provided the issues with the cross-species didn't get out of hand.

"INTRUDER ALERT! MALWARE DETECTED WITHIN SYSTEM! REPEAT! MALWARE DETECTED WITHIN SYSTEM! ALERT! UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS AND REPLICATION OF DOCUMENTS DETECTED! ALERT! ALERT! ROGUE CROSS-SPECIES DETECTED! ROGUE CROSS-SPECIES DETECTED! CROSS-SPECIES DETECTED OUTSIDE OF AUTHORIZED CONTAINMENT AREAS! ALERT! ALERT!"

Alarms started blaring and red hazard lights began flashing, accompanied by that incessant alarm track. Immediately, everyone began making their way for an exit, trying to figure out where the rogue cross-species was. Amelia's heart was threatening to break her ribcage. How could one of their cross-species have breached containment?

"ALERT! ALERT! CONTAINMENT AREA MALFUNCTION! MALFUNCTION DETECTED IN CONTAINMENT AREA! CONTAINMENT AREA NO LONGER SECURE! LOCKDOWN ENGAGING! REPEAT, LOCKDOWN ENGAGING! ALERT! ALERT!"

Now Amelia's heart was beating faster than a jackhammer. Based on the order of the intercom warnings, another cross-species was in the building that had not been in containment in the first place, and was now not the only cross-species free to roam the building.

"What fresh hell is this?! Derwin half-shrieked as he pushed and shoved to get to an exit. Amelia had to agree. What in god's name was happening!?

* * *

Grey couldn't believe how quickly everything had gone wrong. That wasn't to say that things had gone wrong the moment they stepped into the building. However, it had been a few seconds after Beta had been detected that seemingly everything had started to fall apart around them.

As they looked around, trying to act like they were just as confused as everyone else, Grey tapped his watch against the computer monitor, allowing Beta to slip back in.

" _Well, this went sideways quickly, didn't it?"_ Beta commented amicably as they continued to pretend they had no idea what was going on. However, as security began approaching them with stun batons, they dropped the act and charged them. The guards weren't expecting two teenagers to charge them down, and they were swiftly rendered unconscious. However, that was far from the end of their troubles as another alarm started blaring.

"ALERT! ALERT! CONTAINMENT AREA MALFUNCTION! MALFUNCTION DETECTED IN CONTAINMENT AREA! CONTAINMENT AREA NO LONGER SECURE! LOCKDOWN ENGAGING! REPEAT, LOCKDOWN ENGAGING! ALERT! ALERT!"

Grey and Sabrina looked at each other. A containment area could only mean one thing, based on the information they had on Neo-Gen.

" _Just for the record, that wasn't my fault!"_ Beta informed them. Grey muttered in response. He turned to see that the doors and windows were being covered by thick metal sheets with hazard warnings on them.

"Oh, well that's fantastic!" Grey shouted in frustration. However, that wasn't the end of it, as both intruders could hear the sound of panicked employees of Neo-Gen stampeding towards them. Sabrina pointed out the balcony area on the second floor that overlooked the front atrium. They both leapt up to it, completely unnoticed by everyone except for the receptionist, who's flabbergasted expression was immediately distracted by the fleeing masses that rapidly approached the main door, only to find it barred. Grey and Sabrina made their way towards the elevator as Beta gave them what instructions it could.

" _You do realize that we can't leave those cross-species to run wild. If they get out, it could be catastrophe."_

"Quit stating the obvious and give us information on where they'll be going!" Sabrina shot back.

" _Temper, temper. They'll be heading to the east side of the building on the fourth floor by my calculations. There's an elevator that goes straight to the top of the building there, and the doors aren't as heavily reinforced. Plus, the air will smell fresher there than the elevator you're looking for. And there it is!"_

The two of them skidded to a stop and Grey held up Beta's watch to the elevator. Immediately, the doors slid open and the elevator was waiting for them. They stepped in and Beta lifted them up to the fourth floor. The door slid open and they hurried out as the elevator doors were resealed by Beta to keep the cross-species contained as best as possible. They began running opposite the direction the Beta had calculated the cross-species would take, brushing past fleeing scientists, technicians and other personnel until they found the cross-species. The largest, and by far the ugliest, had just finished throwing a scientist through a laboratory door, though he seemed to be not permanently injured. Then they noticed the pair of them. Seven cross-species were glaring back at them with madness in their eyes.

"Beta, any information we should know before we start fighting?" Grey asked.

" _Well, they don't have strength to match either of you. Not even the really big one can manage that. However, they do have better cellular regeneration and anything else about them is unknown."_ Beta replied.

"Wonderful, so not even Neo-Gen knows what they're capable of." Sabrina grumbled as she dropped into a fighting stance.

"Beta, did you remember to send out a distress signal when everything went to hell?" Grey asked as he raised his fists, silently wishing he had his gauntlets.

" _Of course I did. The truck outside dispatched a cutter drone to get your gear into the building. I'm prepping for emergency calibration as we speak. Also, Graham has been notified of the situation."_

"Well, at least there's that." Grey responded as the largest of the rose-cross-species barreled down on him. It had four legs that looked more like roots or vines than actual legs and it had an almost crocodilian maw. It shrieked at him as it swiped at him with it's claws. Grey ducked under it and delivered a wicked uppercut to it's bottom lip before lunging forward and slamming his shoulder into its chest. Meanwhile, Sabrina was handling two other ones who looked about more like ordinary cross-species, sans the green… everything. One of them had an arm that looked more like tangled vines than a proper limb, and it soon became apparent why, as the arm unravelled and began behaving more like five arms with a single finger! Sabrina cursed as she was pushed back by the onslaught. She waited as the cross-species rushed her again and she dodged to the side and grabbed it by it's 'normal' arm and whirled it around before throwing it at the other cross-species she had been fighting. She then charged forward and threw a punch at a fourth cross-species. During all this, she noticed the two smallest ones weren't taking part in the battle. That wasn't to say they were hiding. They were behaving more like wolves that were trying to scare off a larger predator; lunging and swiping, but never making a move to actually attack. Just to ward off

Meanwhile, Grey was busy dealing with the second largest one in addition to the first. He had transformed his hands into their reptilian form after the largest one got a bite on his arm. Now his skin was unbreakable by the jaws of his opponent. He also mentally kicked himself for not doing so earlier, before proceeding to kick another cross-species away. This one seemed to have suddenly grown lots of thorns since they started fighting, and also had a sort of 'core', similar to Biollante. He barely noticed as the thorns scratched his scales, hearing them snap in a few cases. He thrust a palm out and grabbed that particular cross-species by the face and smashed it into the ground before punching the one with the crocodile head in said head a few times, since it had its jaws fastened around his arm. However, what got it to let go was when Sabrina kicked it in this back and followed it up with a right hook to the stomach. The cross-species let go of Grey's arm in shock before Grey grabbed it around the torso and spun, doing almost a sort of hop as he began turning and falling on his side, slamming the cross-species into the ground with his upward-facing arm. The cross-species got to its feet, appearing rather dizzy. Grey threw one more punch and rendered it unconscious. He spun to see one of the medium sized ones charging him. This one had what appeared to be flower bulbs on their shoulders and forehead, though it was hard to tell, due to all the senseless thrashing of limbs.

One thing was obvious from this encounter. They had absolutely zero combat experience. They were just thrashing about, haphazardly using whatever natural abilities they had in a chaotic, flailing attempt to defeat their opponents. However, they were hardly a challenge. The only real advantage they had was superior numbers, and that wasn't as high an advantage as one might think. It was really more of a five on two match than it was a seven on two, since the two smallest of this batch didn't participate in the fighting at all, aside from a few warning swipes that looked like they would do little more than bruise at best. Plus, they were rather indiscriminate with who their attacks connected with. Grey observed the one with an arm that could split into five accidentally knocked its ally down when it tried to strike Sabrina, who was currently pinning the offending cross-species to the ground, keeping her knee pressed hard to it's spine, before delivering a harsh blow to the back of the head, rendering the cross-species unconscious. That left three.

Conveniently, that was about the time when the cutter drone managed to reach them and Grey threw his opponent across the room and pulled his gauntlets out of the transport case and slapped them on before hurriedly donning his headset. Beta immediately transferred to the headset and ran through the emergency calibration before he unleashed two low-level blasts at Sabrina's opponents, throwing them back and buying her time to get her own gear on. Beta then jumped over to her headset and began calibrating while Grey continued dealing with the cross-species, who were much more cautious now that Grey was capable of firing blue beams of death at them. Soon enough, Sabrina joined him in keeping them on the backpedal. Things were looking good.

And then they all went to hell when Beta shared some rather disturbing news.

" _We're going to have to wrap this up soon! Somehow, Biollante left its island and is about to arrive in this city!"_

"Are you kidding me?! Of all the things that could possibly happen, Biollante is here?! What about Godzilla? Is he on the way?" Grey shouted as he pressed forward, prompting one of the cross-species to charge him. He swung both his arms upward, hands clenched together and delivered a terrific blow to the cross-species head, causing it to smash into the ceiling and crash to the ground, unconscious. He then charged up a blast and charged forward, unleashing a quick, concussive burst of thermonuclear energy in time with his punch, causing the unfortunate cross-species to hurtle into the wall and get stuck in it, also unconscious.

And then there was one. Sabrina handled this one easily, charging forward and slipping past its guard to slam a closed fist into either side of its head before performing a leaping roundhouse kick, delivering the KO hit.

The two cross-species that were behaving like cornered animals seemed to realize there was no way to win and seemed to surrender. However, they were left with the conundrum of how to restrain them all. Since they couldn't do that quite yet, they simply dragged the unconscious bodies of the cross-species and lined them up along the wall before motioning for the still standing ones to join their unconscious brethren. However, as they were going, they suddenly paused and their eyes widened, pupils contracting. They suddenly bolted away, heading for the opening left by the cutter drone! Sabrina immediately gave chase, leaving Grey to keep an eye on their prisoners. If he could find some way truss them up, that is. He didn't want to just keep clocking them over the head whenever they came around.

Suddenly, he felt something… 'shrieking'. It felt like his head was about to burst!

" _Large Gamma pulse detected! Wavelength unidentified!"_ Beta informed. They had added tech to the headsets to try and detect these signals that cross-species were apparently capable of receiving, but they hadn't been able to perform a proper field test yet. Apparently, the apparatus was working well, if Beta was any indicator.

Almost as soon as the pulse was sent out, all of the cross-species' eyes snapped open and began shambling to their feet. They immediately swarmed Grey, who was still reeling for the pulse. However, they rushed past him and made for the breach as well, leaping through and sliding down the side of the building, using different methods of gripping the wall so as to not turn into pancakes upon reaching the ground.

Soon enough, Grey managed to regain control of his senses and followed them out of the breach and into the city. He could see Biollante in the city, a small, sparse cloud of pollen surrounding it and fading fast. The cross-species were all racing towards it. He could see Sabrina further ahead, holding her head like she had a migraine. He hurried closer, then found the problem as his head started pounding. Whatever was going on, the other cross-species didn't seem very affected.

"Beta, can you do anything about my head?! I can't get closer!" Grey shouted over the destruction Biollante was now wreaking.

" _The apparatus can't block anymore, and I can't do any software changes to mitigate that! I've sent word to our escape plan. They'll grab us and we can get out of… Incoming transmission from Dr. Graham."_

" _Grey, Sabrina! Satellites just pinpointed Godzilla starting to advance!"_

"Oh, well that's just great! Where was he a week ago?!" Sabrina shouted as she began clutching her head with both hands.

" _He won't be there for some time. However, we have another ping on the satellite. It's something we haven't seen before, and it'll be there any minute now!"_

Grey was dumbfounded.

"How could it get here so quickly if our satellites only just found it?!"

The answer came soon enough, preceded by a powerful gust of wind. Grey watched as a massive shadow passed overhead, leaving his jaw to drop. Overhead, what appeared to be a monstrously large butterfly or moth landed on a nearby building and let out a high pitched keening sound. It looked more like a moth than a butterfly, though it had the coloration of a monarch, though not quite the patterning. Its antenna curled and uncurled as it stared down Biollante.

"Ummm… Graham? You wouldn't happen to know about any giant moths, would you?" Grey said, dumbfounded. The moth let out another cry before it leapt from the building and began flying towards Biollante who let out a wail of its own and raised its vines to strike.

* * *

 **BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING DIDJA!**

 **Creativity: Yeah, I bet they didn't!**

 **Author: Don't be a kissass. So yeah, I decided to introduce Mothra for the battle against Biollante. It made sense to me that a giant moth would fight a giant plant monster… thing, and Mothra did help Godzilla to beat Biollante in the original movie.**

 **Creativity: Ummm… Spoilers? I guess?**

 **Author: Maybe, but it's staying in.**

 **So, I'm going to be doing two chapters in addition to the two I still owe you, because I need it to finish the central story this 'season' has been about, and I can't do that in two more chapters.**

 **Also, sorry Ultra, but it was always my intent for them to meet and fight. If it's any consolation though, it's not their fault. It's my fault! Because I decided the story required it. And I'm also sorry to say that your suffering has not yet come to an end. Seriously, I'm sorry. However, I felt the story needed to go this way and no amount of pleading would change that.**

 **Finally, you might get a little bonus story stuck in there for funzies. Depends on if I feel like it and audience call.**

 **Now, if everything's taken care of, I need to go sort out the angry mob that has appeared outside the studio. Creativity, get the money cannon! See ya next week!**


	33. Round 2

**Well, last week's chapter ran longer than expected. So, did anyone do anything fun for May the fourth or Revenge of the Fifth? I spent the Fifth hanging out with my friend and marathoning all the Star Wars Movies we could.**

 **Creativity: Even the prequels.**

 **Author: The prequels aren't that bad. They aren't the originals, but they aren't terrible.**

 **Creativity: Not according to the internet.**

 **Author: Why do we care about the internet?**

 **Creativity: Well, our stories are on the internet.**

 **Author: Touché. So, as a recap, last chapter we introduced Mothra to be the first to engage Biollante in battle, with Godzilla on the way. It's gonna be awesome!**

 **Creativity: I thought the original plan was to introduce Mothra later.**

 **Author: It was.**

 **I originally intended to have Mothra show up for whenever I do Ghidorah, but I spent some time thinking about it and it made more sense to me to have Mothra show up for Biollante.**

 **So, any suggestions on what the two bonus chapters should look like? They'll air this summer for anyone interested and they'll probably be longer than my usual shtick, so throw some suggestions my way.**

 **Also, in response to Ultra, it's more like big sister. Really, really big sister. Like, Really, really, really big.**

 **Alright, enough chatter. I now present chapter 31!**

* * *

 **P.S.**

 **This is just a little celebratory thing, but my most previous story, currently called New Dawn but title may change, just reached 10K reads and that feels pretty awesome! Though this one is fast catching up (Like, scarily fast) and already exceeds it in reviews, I still look back on that one fondly, even if the first few chapters are a little bit cringy in retrospect. Plus, it's the first "real" fic I did that I properly completed. If you haven't already, and can stomach the early cringe, I think you'll like it. Now, enough celebratory nattering and shameless self-promotion! Roll the chapter!**

* * *

"Ummm… Graham, you wouldn't happen to know about any giant moths, would you?"

Grey watched as the giant moth grabbed onto Biollante and beat it's wings violently, seemingly trying to pull Biollante off the ground. However, Biollante wouldn't have any of it and lashed out with its vines, knocking the moth away. The moth managed to catch itself before crashing into the ground and flew up above Biollante and let out its keening challenge again before it's antennae began glowing and a strange, almost prismatic beam fired from between the antennae into Biollante's side. Biollante shrieked in response, but appeared to have not suffered any meaningful damage. Biollante tried swiping with its vines again, but the moth was out of range.

Grey watched in awe as the moth danced around Biollante, occasionally trying to deal damage, though it seemed ineffective so far. However, he was soon snapped out of it by the sound of screeching tires. He turned to see Ford and Jordan driving up in their escape van. Grey hauled himself inside and they went to rescue Sabrina as well, who seemed to be improving when the moth started attacking Biollante. She pulled herself into the van and they drove away from the carnage ensuing behind them as fast as the van could go.

"We need to get in touch with Graham; find a way to drive Biollante towards Godzilla!"

Beta jumped into the van's comms system and forced a connection through to Graham, who was currently apprised of the situation via observation drones she had deployed once she was informed of Biollante reforming in the same city as their infiltration mission.

" _We've been going through everything we have on Biollante, and the only thing that might do damage that we have any remote access to is thermonuclear energy, but we don't have any means of harnessing that power aside from You and Sabrina. Godzilla won't reach the battle site for an estimated 45 minutes, though it appears that the newcomer is forcing Biollante to retreat towards Godzilla."_ Graham informed them, a hint of irritation in her voice. It was probably due to Beta forcing the comm line through.

" _Pardon me a moment."_ Beta requested. There were a few moments before Beta started speaking again.

" _I just hopped over to the Monarch base to get a good look at the data we have on the situation. Based on the rate that Biollante is being pushed back by this giant moth, I'd say that they'll reach Godzilla in roughly twenty minutes if they maintain this pace. However, there is much collateral damage from the battle so far. If this continues, I won't be surprised if the UN orders military action."_

"I can't really blame them, even if it'll end really badly for them. What about the cross-species me and Sabrina were dealing with before? Are they still heading towards Biollante or is there something else going on?" Grey questioned.

" _I can answer that."_ Graham answered.

" _It appears that when the new Kaiju showed up, Biollante stopped 'calling out' to the cross-species to spend its energy on fighting the moth. They seem rather disoriented. Well, save one. It's safe to say that this one is the 'template' for the others, though they don't seem to be the leader. It's doubtful they even have one. I suppose that Biollante could fill that roll, but that doesn't seem likely. Either way, I believe that we have possibly found a way to deal with the cross-species. If we can create something to emit a gamma pulse on the same wavelength as Biollante's call, then we can perhaps draw the cross-species away from the fight and contain them, or use it to subdue them, like a sonic weapon of sorts."_

" _Brilliant!"_ Beta replied before continuing.

" _It would be easy enough to modify the cross-species gauntlets' software to allow for those specific frequencies. Based on the data I was able to collect, the hardware can more than take the strain. I'll get started on that right away."_

Graham sighed on the other end of the comms, sounding rather exasperated by Beta.

" _Fine, make it happen. I'll try to scramble some more cross-species to help you, as well as send you some restraints. We have a building in a nearby city that we store some of our newer tech at. In the meantime, aid in the evacuation and try to reduce collateral damage. Oh, and send me the modifications for the gauntlets. We can use it some of our other cross-species gear."_ Graham finished before signing off.

They eventually stopped the truck near where the evacuation was commencing and hurried in to assist. Ford and Jordan helped the police and other official personnel direct people out of harms way, while Grey and Sabrina hurried around and found people who were trapped for one reason or another, be it cars holding each others' doors shut or building entrances collapsed and blocked, or any number obstructions that naturally came with one-hundred-meter-tall monsters. Currently, Grey was helping to evacuate people who were trapped on the second story of an office building by leaping up to grab people and sliding back down with his claws. Sabrina was removing fallen debris from another building, allowing people to crawl out and join the evacuation. They worked their way down the street, assisting where they could. Eventually, Graham's delivery drones arrived with their gear. Specifically, there were seven sets of restraints, some gamma cartridges to allow Grey and Sabrina to top off their reserves, as well as gamma sidearms for Ford and Jordan. By this point, military forces had arrived and were assisting in the evacuation. Taking advantage of the extra hands, the Monarch team made their way back to where they had last seen the cross-species. They could still see Biollante locked in battle with the giant moth, which the moth seemed to be doing not half bad. It was definitely herding Biollante in a specific direction, judging by the massive amount of destruction and mayhem, as well as the obvious path that it followed. Meanwhile, the cross-species were following said path, though some of them looked rather disoriented. It was almost as if they were intoxicated.

" _The alternate mode of fire is available and set. You may engage at any time."_ Beta informed them. Grey immediately began powering up the gauntlets for a blast before unleashing twin shots at the cross-species. The blast that came out was an incredibly translucent blue series of pulses, creating a higher pitched, chopped up variation of the normal atomic blast.

That certainly got the attention of the cross-species, who grabbed at their heads and screeched in shock and pain before focusing in on the source. They all snarled and began charging them. Sabrina fired two ordinary blasts at them to stagger them before switching to the pulse, thanks to Beta. Beta then proceeded to up the frequency for both of them, which Sabrina then unleashed upon their attackers. The cross-species stumbled, some even tripping, as the pulses continued to bombard them. Grey and Sabrina steadily pressed forward, keeping the pulses trained on the cross-species. However, as they got closer, one of the cross-species forced itself to stand up and charged them. Grey met them head on, upping the power of the pulse to launch the cross-species into a nearby building.

"Beta, can you adjust the pulse to be more… concussive?" Grey asked.

" _Already on it. Annnnnnd… There you go."_

Grey grinned as he leapt into the building in pursuit if the cross-species. Luckily, it hadn't gone very far. It was already clamouring to its feet when Grey got through the small dust cloud from the cross-species' sudden entry into the building. It snarled at him and charged forward. Grey charged up his gauntlets delivered a right cross, unleashing the blast as soon as he felt the blow connect. The cross-species was once again thrown through the wall, this time with even more force. Grey leapt through the hole and charged up another blast. However, this time the cross-species was ready, and leapt out of the way as he slammed his fist into the ground, creating a series of cracks through the sheer force of his punch coupled with the blast from his gauntlets. The cross-species then tackled him to the ground and began to slam their fists into him in a flailing manner. He snarled as his blood vessels began to glow blue, a humming noise climbing in pitch as they did. After a few seconds, Grey felt a massive burning sensation all over his skin before a pulse of thermonuclear energy erupted from his body, throwing the cross-species back and even leaving a few burns. Grey stood up, ignoring the sensation of the worst sunburn in history that seemed to radiate everywhere on his body. It passed in a few moments. However, his blood vessels began glowing again before it stopped increasing. The humming also reduced before reach a low but consistent pitch, and his vision gained a slightly blue tinge. He advanced on the cross-species, who seemed very unsure of themselves now. They backed away, not realizing they were backing into a corner until it was too late. They snarled at Grey, though it seemed very desperate. Then, something strange happened. The cross-species had a pair of flower bulbs on their shoulders and temples respectively, though they had been closed the whole time that Grey had been fighting all seven of these new cross-species. However, now they sprang open and released a cloud of yellow powder, which Grey was now in the middle of. He kept advancing, but soon found his movements to be sluggish, his limbs unresponsive. The cross-species took this opportunity to land a blow that through Grey out of the cloud. Shortly afterwards, his body returned to normal. He scrambled to his feet before the cross-species could get closer and bring that damn cloud with them. He fired two blasts from his gauntlets to push the cross-species back before leaping into the air and charging up another blast. The cross-species had just recovered from the previous attack when Grey delivered his next blow. This one was definitely a KO. Grey covered his mouth and nose to keep the cloud from affecting him, though it was quickly dissipating. However this cross-species produced that cloud, it seemed that it didn't last long without being constantly generated by the flowers.

Grey picked up the cross-species and slung it over his shoulder before making his way back to Sabrina, who had KOed two other cross-species and gotten them restrained. After slapping restraints on the one he had just KOed, Grey charged into the fray and slammed his shoulder into crocodile head, who was trying to attack Sabrina from behind. The blow dazed them so much so that Grey was able to deliver a two-handed blow straight into their gut. He finished it off by delivering a downward punch to the cross-species' head. Satisfied that crocodile head was unconscious, he slapped the restraints on them and tossed them aside.

"That's four down. Again." Grey called out as he turned his attention to the one covered in thorns. He stalked forward, gauntlets charging for a concussive blast. The cross-species hissed at him and charged, arms raised to strike. Grey let the blows land, the thorns breaking on his scales. He let the cross-species go for another strike, only for him to catch their wrist and deliver a concussive blast to the stomach. He didn't want to attack the strange core in case it proved to be as fragile as it appeared. The blow caused the cross-species to double over, the wind knocked out of them. Grey then proceeded to deliver a quick blow to the head, rendering the cross-species unconscious. By this time, Sabrina had subdued two small ones again, with much less effort than before. After making sure they were all properly restrained, they radioed back to Graham to send in a transport team to pick them up.

However, there was still one big problem left to deal with. A problem that was currently dragging itself through the city, leaving one hell of a trail behind it. Plus, there was the new, airborne problem that was pushing the first problem towards an even bigger problem that by this point would have made landfall and was now lumbering its way towards them. Grey pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled to himself.

"Why did this catastrophe have to be so messy?" Grey wondered aloud to no one in particular. Then he remembered yet another loose end.

"Hey Ford, could you and Jordan keep an eye on these guys for us? We gotta go take care of some stuff back at Neo-Gen." Grey asked over comms.

" _We'll be there as soon as we can."_ Ford responded. He and Jordan had gone to search for stragglers in the evacuation effort after Grey and Sabrina went to take on the cross-species, so it didn't take long for them to show up again in the van. After getting out and making rechecking the restraints, they drew their gamma pistols and stood guard while Grey and Sabrina made their way back to Neo-Gen. Monarch approved military personnel were already surrounding the building and several had gone to join Ford and Jordan, just as a precaution. As they arrived, one of the personnel was just finishing shouting instructions for the Neo-Gen employees through a megaphone.

" _Upon release of the security lockdown, you will all be placed under armed guard! Any attempt to escape will be met with arrest! Overriding main doors in three… two… one… now!"_

The military had just disabled the manual override for the front door and now people were streaming out of the building, very relieved to be out of that steel deathtrap. So far, everyone was obeying the instructions to the letter. While everyone was filing out Grey and Sabrina took up guard positions, though what they were really doing was getting in an ideal position for Beta to pick out anyone who they knew was working on the cross-species project directly and with full knowledge of what they were doing.

They were about ten minutes in when they came across the first of their suspects. One Dr. Trill, who had a series of scratches on her arm and side that looked to be a result of the thorn-covered one. They pulled her aside and cuffed her before locking her up in one of Monarch's more militaristic transports to be taken away for questioning as well as to stand trial. Later, they pulled aside one Dr. Misaki, who looked better off than Trill, but still pretty rough. She had a nasty bruise on her forehead, a split lip and a bit of a limp. After sending her off for questioning, Beta pointed out another suspect. Her name was Amelia Grell and, according to Beta, was a very recent hire and was likely to not know anything about E.V.O.

Regardless, they still pulled her aside and placed her under arrest. Grey had a sneaking suspicion that her trial was likely to be more brutal than Misaki or Trill's. Not that he particularly cared. He was rather pissed that someone would begin their career on something that had been declared illegal barely a year ago and apparently not care at all about that latter detail at all!

Grey was snapped out of his grumbling when Beta started pestering him to pull aside two people. After he and Sabrina followed through on those instructions, Beta informed them of their names. They were Derwin Fletcher and Camilla Jones. According to Beta, they had been hired by Rothstein at the same time as Amelia, but had not done any work on the cross-species project. From what Beta had managed to dig up, it seemed that Rothstein intended to have them work on the project when he had… molded them a bit. They weren't wanted for arrest, but Beta still suggested that they question them for any information they could get, since it sounded like Rothstein interacted with them a fair bit under the guise of Royston Parks.

Needless to say, they were rather confused and alarmed that they were being pulled aside, but Grey and Sabrina assured them that they weren't under arrest for anything. Once the evacuation was complete, the military moved into the building to search for any stragglers, wounded or those trying to evade capture. Meanwhile, Grey and Sabrina were now in a commandeered car and heading towards the trail of destruction left behind Biollante and the giant moth. Along the way, they saw a Monarch transport flying out of the city, probably hauling the captured cross-species off to the containment cells back at the facility.

Soon enough, they reached the end of usable road and took to vaulting and leaping over the wreckage and debris. The path bent to left ahead, so much so that they couldn't quite see Biollante. However, they could catch glimpses of the giant moth when it flew high enough. Eventually, they decided to make their way to the rooftops, since it would probably be easier to navigate up there than negotiate the mountains of rubble left in the wake of the brawling monsters. Once they reached the rooftops, they began a much quicker pace. They could see Biollante in the distance, and it looked like it had undergone some proper battle damage. Several of the petals that encapsulated its head had fallen away, leaving only a few left. Grey and Sabrina watched as the moth unleashed another beam from its antennae that caused Biollante to let out a wail of rage. Its vines lashed up and seized the petals before violently ripping them away to reveal a crocodilian head with two small, beady eyes. They were rather similar to Godzilla, especially with that bony brow that gave Godzilla and Biollante a permanent glare. In addition to this, there were three pairs of tusks that jutted out from its upper and lower jaws. Specifically, there were two pairs coming from the top jaw, and one pair on the bottom. Biollante's maw was filled with multiple rows of needle-pointed teeth, designed to grip anything it bit down on.

Biollante let loose another howl before it began dragging itself after the moth, determined to rip it apart, limb from limb.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap for chapter 31! As of this writing, I saw Avengers Infinity War and… I'm still trying to process it.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, the boss spent a day or two locked in his room, staring at a mug of root beer and muttering incoherently until we managed to talk him back into work.**

 **Author: I will be docking pay for that.**

 **Also, I would kindly request that NO SPOILERS BE MADE IN REVIEWS FOR THIS STORY! I am not going to ruin the experience for anyone else and would request the same courtesy from my readers.**

 **Creativity: SPOILER FREE ZONE OVER HERE!**

 **Author: Alright, you get some pay back for that.**

 **Also, once I'm finished with this story, I'm considering doing a mini-series with Rose and another cross-species. I haven't decided on the one I would include for a duo mini-series, if I decide to do so, but feedback would be appreciated for it.**

 **Creativity: What about outsourcing?**

 **Author: One, because I would like to have authorial control over it. Two, This series isn't nearly popular enough for someone to want to do something like that. Three, because… Why do I have to explain this, and why did you bring it up?**

 **Creativity: To attempt to segue into reminding you that we haven't addressed anything regarding Rothstein and his disastrous outsourcing experiment.**

 **Author: By which you mean Rothstein's escape wasn't mentioned in this chapter? Wow, that was needlessly compli…**

 **Why am I still talking about this?! We should have finished talking a long time ago!**

 **Sorry about that, folks. See ya next week!**


	34. Tree-felling

**And so, we continue with our brawl!**

 **Creativity: Yeah, is good!**

 **Author: Who or what are you imitating?**

 **Creativity: I'm not sure…**

 **Author: Alright then…**

 **Well, with that weirdness out of the way, this will be wrapping up most of the final bits regarding Biollante, Rose and the weird clone… things I decided to make for the story, as well as gearing up for the final big event of the season. I'm not quite positive on when I'll be making a proper return to the story after the season is completed, but I currently have it pegged for August or September, though dates may be subject to change.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, that'll give us time for another PROPER backlog.**

 **Author: Yeah.**

 **Now then, shall we commence with chapter 32? I think we shall! Let us BEGIN!**

* * *

Camilla and Derwin were watching a newsfeed of the latest monster-related catastrophe to be unleashed upon the world. This was the first one in a year, since Godzilla had fought that tunneling creature and his mechanical counterpart, and this time it looked like it was going to be a three-way brawl. Currently, the giant plant monster was hauling itself along behind the moth, who was keeping itself just out of range of the toothed vines and unleashing that strange prismatic beam from its antennae.

"First there's that whole cross-species debacle at Neo-Gen, Amelia is arrested, we're 'taken for questioning, as well as our own safety' and now this?! How did everything fall apart so quickly?!" Camilla cried hysterically. Derwin was a bit more collected, but he looked like he was more in shock. They were currently locked up in a rather nice room for an interrogation. It had standard office coloring and almost no décor. There were a few waiting chairs in the corners of the room and a large, rectangular table in the center, with several office chairs filling up most of the space on each of its four sides. Additionally, there was a projector mounted on the ceiling, a pull-down screen for said projector, and a small television mounted in the corner of room. It was the television that was currently airing the news footage of the titanic battle.

They watched with awe and horror as the plant creature reared back its head and launched some sort of liquid projectile from its horrendous maw! The moth flitted away from the blast and countered with its own blast. The footage cut away from the battle to show the results of the blast from the plant monster, which was currently melting a rundown apartment into slag. And judging by the way the apparently acidic substance was glowing, it was radioactive as well.

Camilla could see Derwin's hands shaking and then noticed that hers were as well. Then Derwin started speaking.

"The cross-species that were running amok in the lab, they're like this plant monster…" He stuttered. Camilla realized that he was right.

The similarities were more pronounced with the two largest of the pack of seven that had been seen in the lab. Specifically, the large orange sac and the crocodilian maw. However, the similarities didn't end there. There were roses blooming on one of the others, and all of them seemed to be part rose, or at least part plant. But what did it all mean? Was Neo-Gen dabbling in cross-species genetics? Was that why they had been pulled aside?

All of a sudden, the cameras cut away from the fight to show Godzilla in the distance, lumbering forward and sounding a bellowing challenge. The plant monster turned to look and unleashed a shriek before completely abandoning its fight with the giant moth and began hauling itself towards Godzilla, its limbs thrashing about.

Camilla and Derwin watched in awe as the two giants collided. Godzilla grabbed the plant thing around the middle and pushed forward, roaring as he did. Biollante shrieked again and began thrashing its vines to batter Godzilla into submission. However, Godzilla's spines provided a good deal of protection from the strikes. Biollante began to topple, but dug in its rear appendages and latched onto Godzilla's shoulders with the jawed vines and began to violently yank and pull, causing Godzilla to let out a startled roar before biting down on one of the vines and thrashing his head from side to side! Biollante lashed out with its vines in desperation, causing Godzilla to backpedal. Godzilla regained his composure and charged again, claws outstretched. The moth let out another cry and fired another beam at the plant thing, striking it in the strange orange core. The plant thing let out a surprised shriek and swatted at the moth, leaving itself open for Godzilla to lock his jaws around the plant thing's neck and begin trying to force it to the ground. However, the size difference was not in Godzilla's favour, thus making his usual strategy of simply overpowering his opponent not very effective. Godzilla roared again and made a few swipes with his claws, one of which hit the core again. The plant thing shrieked again and fired an acidic blast from its maw, which hit Godzilla right in the chest. Godzilla roared in pain, but the blast didn't seem to do very much damage. However, the acid was now revealed to be rather sticky, almost like tree sap. Godzilla flailed around, his spines beginning to glow before he snapped his jaw shut and a sound like rolling thunder filled the air. The sap was thrown from his body and revealing several burns, though they didn't appear serious.

The pulse Godzilla had unleashed to remove the sap apparently through the moth for a loop and caused evident discomfort for the plant creature. It began retreating back into the city and away from Godzilla, who lumbered after it, roaring and charging up for an atomic blast. The moth looped around behind Biollante and began unleashing more antennae blasts. The plant creature was now coiling its vines around the orange core, which appeared to be its weak point.

Camilla wanted to stop watching, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the spectacle, despite the horror of it all. And throughout all of it, she couldn't stop thinking about the observation that Derwin had made, and its terrible implications. Could she really have been working in a place that had been performing research that had been declared illegal across the world barely a year ago? Was she liable for this? No, she couldn't be. She hadn't known anything about that experimentation. But what if there was still some way…

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door was opened and two teenagers walked into the room. They were wearing some sort of weird gloves and headsets that wrapped around their heads and covered their ears. The first was a Caucasian boy with light brown hair, green eyes and a stocky build, with an extra long left glove, an extension of the headset over their left eye and a bit of a limp. The second was an Indian girl with straight black hair and blue eyes. She was an inch or two shorter than the boy. The girl motioned for them to get up and follow. Camilla hesitantly got to her feet, though Derwin seemed to be… less than eager to go anywhere with the pair.

"Come on, we don't have all day." The boy said in an English accent. When Derwin continued to remain seated, the boy walked over and grabbed him by the back of his shirt and effortlessly hauled him to his feet.

"Personally, I would leave you here, but Graham wants you moved as a precaution." The boy continued as he made sure that Derwin kept walking. The girl took the lead, followed by Camilla, then Derwin, with the boy bringing up the rear. They soon reached another van, which both parties climbed into, though one party was particularly reluctant. As they kept driving, they could see the disaster zone around them, as well as brief glimpses of the fight between Godzilla, the moth and the plant creature. Soon they were clear of the city and they saw a small helicopter waiting on the road, its rotors spinning in preparation for takeoff. Camilla and Derwin were escorted aboard the copter, which immediately dusted off, heading north-west. Along the way, the boy pressed a finger to his headset.

"We're in the air. Heading back to headquarters… Well, what would you call it?... Ok then, I'll try to think of something less 'cliché' on the way back, smart guy. How's it going with huge, green and ugly? You called it Biollante, right?... So, it's not going very well… Oh fine, I'll shut up! Have fun saving the world!"

The girl let out a few clicking noises and rolled her eyes.

"Just because I don't understand the specific translation, doesn't mean I don't know when you're being a smartass." The boy retorted. Camilla and Derwin were perplexed.

"What are you people?" Derwin asked in a flustered tone. The boy shrugged.

"Sorry, you'll have to wait until we arrive. Shouldn't take long, though. This chopper was fitted with a new nuclear propulsion system, so we'll be there much sooner than you think.

Sooner was right. It was about a half-hour flight before they landed. Derwin and Camilla looked out the windows of the chopper to see that they were touching down at what at first glance, appeared to be some sort of resort, but then saw the Monarch badge overhead, followed by another badge. This one looked more like Godzilla, though it was more like abstract art and thus not nearly as intimidating.

They touched down on the Heli-pad and were immediately led inside. They looked around in awe as people were rushing to and fro. It looked like an upset ant hill. It wasn't hard to guess why. The girl and the boy led them through the facility until they reached what appeared to be a conference room of some kind. Waiting inside was a Caucasian woman with dark hair and glasses, dressed in a lab coat. She motioned for them to sit down. They obviously didn't have any better options, so they took the offered seats. The boy and the girl both took seats of their own as well.

There was silence for a few moments before the woman began speaking.

"I'm sure it was rather jarring, being pulled aside like that. I imagine the helicopter ride didn't help either, so I suppose I best start explaining. This building is owned and operated by a Monarch branch organization that specialized in the study and aid of existing cross-species. This ranges from lobbying for cross-species rights and other related issues, study for medications they may need, the full extend of an individual's mutation, etc."

Derwin cocked his head.

"Yes, I heard about that on the news. What's that got to do with us?"

The doctor laced her fingers together.

"Well, as part of our responsibilities, we also keep an eye out for anyone who may have undergone a cross-species mutation and, if someone has, we trace it back to the source. I trust you've caught on enough?" the doctor asked pointedly. Camilla felt a pit growing in her stomach.

"I think so, but I'm still shaky on some details." Camilla responded cautiously. The doctor tilted her head a bit.

"Very well then, I will tell you everything we know. As of about a month ago, Neo-Gen received a shipment containing seven stasis pods for cross-species of a very specific combination of DNA. Specifically, a common rose, human and Godzilla's DNA. As of about two, maybe three hours ago, those cross-species broke out of the containment units they were kept in within Neo-Gen, and went on a rampage throughout the facility. Three were killed during the rampage, including one dr. Lark, who was one of the lead scientists working on the project." The doctor paused for a moment to allow the information to sink in before delving into the matter at hand.

"Now, we have reason to believe that their escape was the work of one Dr. Rothstein, who you may know better as Royston Parks. He released them as a diversion to escape, as he knew that Biollante was approaching the city."

"Biollante? We heard that name on our way here. Is that the plant creature's name?" Camilla blurted out before realizing her interruption and shrinking in her chair a bit. The doctor didn't seem bothered.

"Yes, according to our sources the creature is named Biollante. Now, continuing." The doctor answered before moving on.

"Now, we have a complete record of who was actively working on the project, and those who were aware of it. All those who have had conscious involvement have been arrested. Well, the ones that are aren't en route to a hospital or worse." The doctor continued before being interrupted again.

"Now hold on! I had no idea what they were doing!" Derwin cried out. The doctor seemed unperturbed by Derwin's panicked outburst.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that. However, according to our sources, the man you knew as Royston Parks intended to bring you in on the project once he felt he had enough control over you to have you not run to the police once you realized that Neo-Gen was performing illegal research and putting that research to practice. Now, back on track." The doctor explained rather exasperatedly.

"Now, according to other sources, Biollante and the original of these new seven humanoid cross-species were actually the bi-product of a separate genetic splicing experiment. After some time, they decided to transfer the original humanoid and six new creatures that were created using variations of their DNA. It's not quite cloning, but it's close. Anyway, it seems that Biollante arrived so close to Neo-Gen as it was seeking out its humanoid counterpart, though that's only conjecture."

Derwin and Camilla looked at each other before looking back at the doctor.

"Okay, but what does that have to do with us?" Camilla asked. The doctor unlaced her fingers.

"We figured it best to move you as the fact that you worked more closely with Dr. Rothstein paints a target on your back. You could be considered a loose end to the ones who started this madness. Here, we have state of the art security systems, advanced thermonuclear weaponry and a team of Gen-1 cross-species to ward off any attacks…"

"So that's what you are!" Camilla exclaimed. She had been struggling to comprehend how the boy was so much stronger than he appeared, but that last bit made it so obvious!

"Yes, I was kidnapped and subject to painful genetic experimentation. Can we please move on?" the boy said in a clipped tone. The girl let out another series of clicking noises, her face communicating a similar desire.

"No need to be rude about it." The boy responded. Camilla wasn't exactly sure what to make of this situation. Was the girl making fun of them?

"Anyway…" the doctor interjected, clearly not will to sit through more questions.

"Until we can be sure that there won't be any immediate retaliation, you'll be under guard and not permitted to leave. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to provide assistance to our team in the field."

The doctor immediately left the room, followed by the two cross-species. The door was locked behind them and two security guards took their positions outside the door. Despite the lunacy of the situation, Derwin couldn't help but ask a strange question.

"Team in the field? Who's crazy enough to be dealing with three monsters that can easily step on us?!"

* * *

Grey yelped as he leapt from one rooftop to an adjacent one as Godzilla stumbled backwards, reducing the building Grey had just been standing on to rubble. He kept going, leaping from rooftop to rooftop to avoid being pulverized. He wasn't sure exactly what he was trying to do, but he knew he had to do something.

He looked around and saw Sabrina leaping to a rooftop across the street. Biollante was lurching forward to attack, shrieking as it went. However, it found its progress hampered when the moth grabbed onto it from behind and began yanking on it again. Biollante bellowed in frustration and unwound the vines it had wrapped around its core to swat at the moth. Seeing an opening, Grey charged up a blast in his gauntlets and fired. The blast struck the core, causing Biollante to shriek in surprise! Grey didn't think the blast would have that sort of effect! Unfortunately, now Biollante was aware of Grey's location, and that he could hurt it. It shrieked and spewed a glob of sap at him. Grey leapt clear of the incoming glob and kept moving as fast as possible, charging up two more blasts. Opposite to him, Sabrina was gearing up blasts of her own. The moment there was an opening, both Grey and Sabrina unleashed their blasts simultaneously. Biollante shrieked again as it was struck in the orange orb that rested in its trunk. Godzilla rushed forward and raked his claws across the core, causing Biollante to start shrieking with increased urgency. It swung around, trying to turn its back to Godzilla, probably to ward off more attacks on its weak-point. However, the moth began unleashing its prismatic beam upon the latter point, causing Biollante to begin panicking even more. Godzilla rushed forward and sank his claws into Biollante's trunk and began throwing his weight to the side. Biollante began reaching its vines behind it in a haphazard attempt to shake Godzilla loose, but that plan was swiftly put to an end when the moth pressed the opening, focusing more beams upon the soft, fleshy sac. Finally, Godzilla made one last pushed and through Biollante on its side! Biollante toppled over, collapsing what few buildings were still standing in the immediate area. Biollante began flailing its limbs around but Godzilla raised his tail and smashed it down on Biollante before seizing a passing vine in his jaws and ripping it off Biollante! Biollante let out another shriek and lay still, its struggling ceasing entirely. Grey watched as Godzilla towered over Biollante, battered and burned, but looking pretty well all things considered. There were a few punctures on his shoulders from Biollante's vines, but other than that there were no open wounds. Godzilla opened his maw wide. Grey prepared himself to witness the final blow.

But instead he clapped his hands over his ears as Godzilla let loose a bone-shaking roar, straight in Biollante's face. Then he backed up a bit. Biollante dissolved into powder and floated away on the wind. Godzilla then turned his attention to the moth and snarled. The moth stared at Godzilla for a few moments before turning and flying away in the same direction it came from, disappearing into the cloud line. Finally, Godzilla began his lumbering trek back to the ocean. Grey watched, dumbfounded.

"What just happened?!" He asked, completely flabbergasted. Sabrina hopped up to the rooftop he was currently standing on like a slack jawed idiot, seemingly as lost as he was. Since when did Godzilla show mercy?!

Both of them were snapped out of their stupor when Graham's voice came over the comms.

" _Well, that was unexpected. You're both alright?"_

"Yeah, we're fine." Sabrina answered. They both made their way back to the Neo-Gen building, which miraculously was still standing. However, that looked like it might change as there was a glob of Biollante's sap nearby, dissolving pavement and buildings as it slowly dripped towards the building. If it made it close enough, the lower floors could become corroded and the building could fall over like a tree.

Ford and Jordan were waiting a fair distance from the building, a helicopter wait nearby. They climbed inside and took off, heading back to the facility.

Once they arrived, they went straight for Graham's lab to get more information on what had happened. Sure enough, she was waiting for them. Beta jumped from Grey's headset into the computer, appearing as some sort of elaborate screensaver.

"Any information on where Biollante went?" Grey asked first. It seemed the most important question to answer at the moment

" _About that…"_ Beta started before a satellite image appeared on the screen, depicting the island they had originally discovered Biollante on.

"It seems that Biollante has staked some sort of claim to that island, or Godzilla is just leaving it alone as long as it doesn't stray from that island. Either way, it appears to be staying there for the time being. Especially after today's debacle." Graham finished, glancing annoyedly at the computer monitor.

"What about the cross-species we captured?" Sabrina asked.

"They're in containment cells. They've become much more apathetic since being removed from Biollante's sphere of influence. They're acting rather confused and unsure. They are still defensive when someone walks by their cells, so we hope that behaviour mellows over time. We're considering just transferring them to Biollante's new island and keeping them under observation. It will be a lot less messy than attempting to rehabilitate them." Graham answered. Grey had to acknowledge that point. They weren't like Grey or the others. They had been grown as cross-species instead of being mutated later in life. Who's to say that leaving them on their own island was a bad idea?

" _Personally, I think it's worth a go to rehabilitate them, but I'll leave that up to your judgement. In the meantime, the government is launching an investigation into this whole mess and I've taken the liberty of compiling and sorting all the information they will need."_ Beta informed. Graham looked more pleased with this news.

"Excellent! I'll give it a few days before submitting the packet. Now then, I think you've all earned some time off."

Grey looked ready to collapse with relief. After giving a few more details on the fight and more information about what was likely to face those involved with the latest cross-species fiasco, he went up to his room and collapsed on his bed, completely spent.

Rothstein arrived at the installation with a nervous pit in his stomach. He kept his head down and went straight to his laboratory and shut himself inside. He was just finishing stashing everything away before he got a call from the Director. Steeling himself, he went to the Director's office and found her seemingly unperturbed by the whole debacle. He sat down in the offered chair and waited for the Director to speak.

"It seems we underestimated the abilities of this… Biollante, I believe it has been named? Either way, things have gone even further downhill. Now Monarch's new branch has seven more cross-species and access to lots of sensitive information. Thankfully, none of it can expose our hidden installations or any other front companies, but still. Now then, do you have any potential plans for how to turn this losing streak around for us?" The director summarized and inquired. Somehow, this was even worse than a berating.

"For now, I think we should stick to research that is less likely to run away from us. In addition to that, I would recommend all cross-species experimentation now be kept strictly with volunteers." Rothstein recommended with a steady voice, though mentally he was sweating bullets. The Director nodded.

"I'll take that under advisement. The rest of the Directors have voted to suspend the use of the viral mutagen until a later date. I have the vaccine on standby, just in case." The director informed before bidding farewell. Rothstein hurried back to his lab and immediately withdrew the vial of Yorburg's restored blood.

It was time to pay a visit to Yorburg's watery grave.

 **Well, that's the end of chapter 32! Sorry it's a bit late, but things were delayed. We'll have the next two chapters ready soon!**

 **Creativity: Yeah! We're setting things up for part III!**

 **Author: Yeah, it's gonna be something awesome.**

 **See ya next week!**


	35. Picking up the pieces

**And so we continue! So, as I was writing this, I realized that I don't have enough left to address for the next set that I can stretch over two chapters, so it's just gonna be one normal length chapter. I guess that's just how the cookie crumbles. However, I do have a couple ideas for one or two bonus chapters. Actually, make that three. One of which I know the readers will absolutely LOVE! I hope… I've had this one in the back of my head for a while now, okay?**

 **Creativity: Yeah, he has been wanting to do this one for ages.**

 **Author: AND THOU SHALT NOT SPOIL IT!**

 **Also, fair warning, this chapter is very E.V.O. centric. I've been setting it up for a while and I'm sure many of you have seen the signs. Though if you have, many thanks for keeping quiet about it.**

 **Anyway, we now proudly present chapter 33!**

* * *

"UNDER SUSPENSION?!"

"Yes, under suspension. Is there something about that sentence that isn't clear to you?"

Carl Ges was known for having a bit of a short fuse, but this took the cake. His Director looked at him impassively, for this was hardly the first time he'd dealt with one of Ges' outbursts. He merely clasped his hands behind his back and maintained eye contact with the seething man.

"For years, we've been working on our genetic editing virus. Now, we have it completed and ready for dispersal and at the first sign of trouble, you kowtow to the rest of the Directors?! WE ARE PUNISHED FOR THE CONTINUED FAILINGS OF ROTHSTEIN?!" Ges bellowed, spittle flying everywhere. The Director wasn't even phased, wiping a few drops from his face.

"Unfortunately, with the world on high alert now that Godzilla has come and gone, as well as the exposure of Rothstein's latest pet projects, we don't have the confidence that the dispersal systems will make it into orbit without notice. And if they are noticed before they can reach the optimal position, they are likely to be shot down, thus placing them on even higher alert and possibly exposing more facilities. Like it or not, we have to place the launch on hold until the world is less paranoid."

Ges snarled one last time before storming off. The Director spun on his heel and made his way back to his office. Meanwhile, Ges threw open the door to his personal lab and slammed it shut. Over a decade of his life had been dedicated to this project, using what little information he could beg, steal or trick out of anyone who's research he felt could be of use for his own, gone through several testing phases more than he felt necessary, and now they had the GALL to tell him that one little scare would bar him from his greatest achievement!

No, this could not be. It couldn't. It wouldn't. No, this was his project and whether or not the Directors thought otherwise, HE was the one who decided when it was ready! Not cretins who endlessly attempted to undermine each other in a pathetic attempt to grab power! HIS project was ready, and it was GOING to be deployed when HE SAID SO!

Ges became remarkably calm, considering his seething fury from only a few moments ago. He calmly stood up and walked over to a case he kept on a shelf in the corner of the lab. He retrieved a specialized key from his pocket and opened, revealing what appeared to be a remote, only in the dimensions of a key card. He retrieved it and slipped it into his pocket before leaving his lab, a calm look on his face. He made his way down a labyrinth of corridors towards a massive room with several large machines inside. There were two automated guard bots in front of the door, but a simple tap from the remote put them in standby mode. He stepped inside and walked over to a large console before tapping the card on one of the many glowing panels. He then looked down at the card, which displayed several options. He selected one that was highlighted in yellow, causing the massive console to begin humming at a very high frequency before it stopped. Everything in the facility went dark as Ges walked out of the room, the red emergency lights switching on. He turned and began calmly walking down the corridor. It was HIS project and it would be brought to its inevitable conclusion on HIS terms. It was time for world to evolve. Scratch that. It was long past time.

* * *

Rothstein was currently on his way to his personal submarine when his comm device started buzzing. He pulled it out and felt his heart start pounding as he saw it was the Director contacting him. He steeled himself and answered.

" _Something's happening at the installation where the DNA splicing virus was made! All the security protocols, cameras and lights have gone into complete shutdown!"_ The Director shouted through the comm device. Rothstein felt his heart calm, only to be replaced with a new fear.

"Do you think?" Rothstein asked, though he already knew the answer.

" _I'm beyond a shadow of a doubt! I need the launch codes, now!"_

Rothstein pulled out a specialized drive and tapped it to the comm device.

"Codes are being transmitted now! The vaccine has been prepared for launch, correct?"

" _Yes. However, the launch process is slow-going. We'll need to activate the rockets now if we are to get ahead of the virus."_ The Director responded before going silent for a several long moments.

" _The codes have been entered and the launch protocols have been engaged worldwide. Now all we can do is wait."_

Rothstein agreed with the sentiment, but he also had other places to be. He bid the Director farewell and climbed into his personal submarine and departed for the collapsed Gamma location. He had a safe to crack open.

Meanwhile, all around the world, rockets hidden underground, under the ocean or in plain sight were beginning to rumble as the propulsion systems prepared to ignite and push them off the ground. Soon enough, the first ones were beginning to lift off the ground before accelerating at maddening velocities towards different parts of the globe.

In a remote, undisclosed holding facility, doctors Misaki and Trill looked out the small windows of their cells to see the trails of the rockets being launched, their eyes widening in recognition. Worldwide, people were seeing the rocket trails and beginning to panic. What was happening?! Was this the opening salvo of a nuclear war? Was this some new terrorist strike? What was happening?!

Back at Monarch, everyone was watching with similar confusion and terror, even the cross-species. Governments were contacting them in fits of panic, demanding some sort of solution, though practically everyone at Monarch was just as clueless.

In addition to all this, every E.V.O facility was descending into chaos as people rushed to and fro, trying to figure out how to shut down the launch. Ges however, was one of the few who wasn't panicking. He was mildly confused about why the missiles would already be launching as he was the only one who knew how. Then a thought struck him. Suppose these were missiles designed to take out his own? No, that didn't make sense. They would have been launched afterwards, once his rockets were airborne. No, this was something else, though the timing did seem a bit strange.

No matter. It wasn't any concern to him. His only purpose completing his project. He kept walking confidently, purposefully, until he reached a second massive room. This one was unguarded. He used the key card to gain access to the room, which had another large console and a massive window that overlooked a massive collection of rockets, each containing a dispersal pod filled with his virus. Each containing the potential to splice a human's DNA with that of a random species. Or at least, that was what they had informed the Directors of. He had taken it one step further and made the virus capable of infecting practically anything! Of course, there were varying resistances to the virus, but in theory it could infect any organism it came into contact with.

He walked over to the console and pressed the key-card to a panel on its left side. Immediately, the card let up with more options. He selected one that was highlighted purple. Immediately, the rockets began to thrum as the fuel began igniting and the rockets began to lift off the ground. All around the world, other silos were coming online and preparing to launch as well. Soon enough, the second wave of rockets had lifted into the air. He had won.

Soon, he was surrounded by armed guards, but he didn't care. He had completed his project and brought about the next step in human, no, planet-wide evolution. He was, in his own mind, the proud bearer of E. V. O's greatest achievement. And no one could take that away from him. Not now.

High above the surface of the earth, just below the cloud-line, the first wave of rockets began dispensing their contents. A blue mist filled the air before it began rapidly descending as a gas. Soon, almost every location with even the smallest human population was covered in this mist. Everyone panicked as they tried to keep the mist out of their lungs, but none could escape it. By now, the second wave have reached the cloud-line and dispensed its payload into the clouds as a similar mist, only it was a medicinal green in color. It slowly began descending in some places, and was carried down by rainfall in others. Regardless, soon almost the entire globe was filled with the virus.

Graham paced around in front of Graham's lab, wearing a mask over his mouth and nose to prevent any more of that damn mist from getting into his body. Similarly, Graham was analysing the solution wearing a mask of her own. After several long minutes, Graham motioned for Grey to come inside the lab.

"I've never seen anything quite like this, but I don't think we need to be too worried about it. From the looks of things, its an inhalable vaccine. However, what its used to vaccinate against is beyond me. It's incredibly specialized and intriguingly complex in atomic structure. And the fact it can be inhaled is remarkable in and of itself." Graham reported. Grey felt mildly relieved, but made no move to remove his mask. But that still left more questions, all of which were rather scary.

"Okay, so we know it's a vaccine, but who would decide to vaccinate the whole world, and what against?" Grey wondered aloud. The answer to the first question was obvious. Only E. V. O had the means to administer an inhalable vaccine to the entire world using rockets, but that still left the question as to why they had done this. The obvious answer would be that they knew of some sickness or other plague and had managed to develop preventative measures for it, but how would they know what to look for before it even got there? Unless…

Grey rushed over to one of the satellite images they were using to track the spread of the blue cloud and felt his heart skip a beat.

"Graham, the other shoe is about to drop!" Grey shouted over his shoulder. Graham rushed over and cursed as she saw what Grey was talking about. A second wave of rockets had appeared in the cloud-line and were dispensing a green mist.

"Get everyone inside and put on air filtering masks! I repeat, all personnel must put on air filtering masks!" Graham shouted over the intercom. She sent the message to as many officials and news stations to declare warning to the populace. However, everyone was already so panicked by the blue mist, that many were not all that receptive to the green mist that was descending towards the earth's surface. Soon enough, it settled in with the blue mist. Many were unshielded from the gas and inhaled it in copious amounts. Grey watched the news footage, the feeling of helplessness gnawing on him and everyone else at the Monarch facility.

By the next day, both mists had dissolved and the world was facing a new problem. hundreds of thousands of people in countries across the world were now gravely ill, quarantined away in hospitals, hastily commandeered buildings, or even their own homes. They all were deathly pale and had dangerously high fevers, and claimed that they felt as if that every part of their body was in great pain. Grey, the other cross-species and many Monarch personnel visited those afflicted to learn what they could, but they found very little.

By the end of the first week, many had died, but not even close to the majority. The death toll struck Grey and the rest of the cross-species like a punch in the gut, which was immediately followed up by yet another one. They had taken several of the afflicted people to the Monarch facility to try and figure out what was happening to them, and after much trial, error and suffering, Graham believed she had found the answer.

"It appears that the infection is a virus that is capable of overwriting an individual's DNA with fragments of another species, but only another species. It's a heavy toll on the body, even discounting the sudden changes the gene splicing would have." Graham explained in a slightly hollow sounding voice. All of a sudden, one of the patients started thrashing in a fit of pain! Graham rushed in to aid the other doctors with restraining the patient, swiftly being joined by Grey. Soon the fits died down, but in tandem with the heart monitor. The heart monitor began relaying an unceasing drone. A doctor hurried over with a defibrillator and charged the paddles before shouting "CLEAR!"

However, try as they might, and they tried as hard as they could, they could not start the poor soul's heart beating again. Grey walked numbly out of the room, his eyes a deadpan, thousand-yard stare.

* * *

Two more weeks later, the survivors of the virus were on their way to recovery. A small amount had managed to beat the virus before the DNA overwrite had taken place, though many more had not. And it showed.

An estimated 2.3 million people around the globe had been spliced with a single random species from the entire animal kingdom. Be it fish, bugs of all varieties, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds, all of it was a possible mutation.

Monarch was scrambling around in a frantic, flustered frenzy, trying to meet with the new cross-species to help provide aid where they could. The resident cross-species returned to their home countries with teams from Monarch to assist around the globe. The effort was slow-going, but when the UN got its act together after the massive shock of what had happened, it sent out its own outreach groups to aid in the effort. However, it was going to be quite a long time before everything was back on track.

Grey was currently back home at his old school, which was being used as a walk-in location for cross-species. The count they were currently at so far was around five hundred cross-species from the city and the surrounding towns. He would be travelling to the capital in the next few days to one of the larger walk-in aid locations, where he would help where he could. Mainly, he was providing the new cross-species with someone to talk to. One of the rooms had been commandeered and set aside for Grey to talk with cross-species one on one. It was about three days in and he'd met with a little over two hundred cross-species, and the rate at which he was meeting with them was increasing. Currently, he was meeting with a girl who had been spliced with a timber wolf. The outward mutation was fur. Lots of it. She didn't have any particularly wolfish changes to her skeletal structure or internal organs, but she now had lots and lots of thick fur. If one looked closely, they could also notice that her ears were slightly more wolfish in appearance, but not by much. Besides, one wasn't likely to notice when the fur was rather distracting. And not just to onlookers. The girl kept scratching at her neck and head and had complained a fair bit about how itchy the fur was. One thing she also talked about was how she constantly had a headache from loud noises, and it felt like she was trapped in a really strong perfume shop. Grey assured her that it was just a sensory overload due to her change being in such a short time frame. He recounted how he took time to adjust to his new radiation sense, and how he was still learning more about his own mutation over a year after it took place.

The next cross-species he met was a bit stranger. They had been crossed with a yellowjacket and now had bug-eyes as well as a small collar of fur on their neck and shoulders. Apparently, they were also extremely jittery and quick to defensive actions. They had arranged for an X-Ray to be taken, as he reported that his arms felt sore, even though the initial check-up hadn't yielded any results. After going through with his usual assurances and sympathies, he sent for the next one and this one was a real shocker.

"Jessica?!"

Sure enough, Jessica was the next person to walk in. It was quite obvious what her mutation was. Her face was now composed entirely of dark gray scales with yellow speckling, and her eyes were green with reptilian pupils. He could see her hands were scaled as well, but that seemed to be it. He wasn't sure of the reach of the scales was, as she was wearing a hoodie, but the fact that her face was completely scales was rather telling.

"How are you feeling?" Grey asked, still a bit stunned that Jessica had undergone mutation. It was rather jarring to see his friend like this. The structure of her face hadn't changed at all, which almost made it even more jarring.

Jessica didn't really say anything. She just looked rather downcast. She took a seat in one of the chairs, leaning forward on her elbows, hands dangling beside her knees.

Grey took a seat opposite to her and waited. It wouldn't do to press her right now. Instead, he waited patiently for her to answer. It was upward of five minutes before she started speaking.

"I'm terrified." She whispered. Grey leaned forward a bit.

"I'm terrified beyond possibility. Grey, I'm genuinely scared for my life."

This caused Grey to raise an eyebrow. He understood her fear for her future, but for her life seemed a bit strange.

"I understand being afraid, but why for your life?" Grey asked, keeping his voice as gentle as possible. Jessica looked at him, her eyes tearing up a bit.

"You haven't seen how people have been reacting to everyone who has changed! They're treating us like we're contagious or about to attack them at any moment! Before, it was just a small handful of oddities that were just trying to rebuild their lives, but now there's so many of us! What happens when the dangerous sort of bigots start turning their attention towards us?! And that's not even counting how the governments of the world are gonna react to this!"

Grey had to admit that those were valid points. While he had personally never had any trouble with backwards assholes before, that could be attributed to his mutation not being externally obvious, as well as having told the world that he was much stronger than any normal human by a good margin being a good deterrent.

"I don't have an easy answer for you, but I can tell you that Monarch as an organization and I as a representative are going to do whatever we can to prevent that from happening. I can't do anything about the backwards assholes, but we can protect people from them. That's from me as a friend." Grey assured her.

After a few moments she nodded before slowly standing up. Grey stood too before being hit with a whopping hug. Jessica was sobbing into his shoulder. Grey hugged back, realizing that in a weird way, he was lucky to have been forced to go on the run the way he did. It had certainly made adjusting to his mutation much easier.

"I'm sorry this happened." He said numbly as she stopped hugging and stood there, staring at the floor. When she was ready, Grey walked her out of the room and let the next person in. After seeing one of his close friends suffering that way, he was more determined than ever to help this new wave of cross-species get through this nightmare.

* * *

Rothstein sifted through the ruins of the old Gamma site, making his way slowly towards the abandoned safe. His tracking drone had located the hidden location of the safe, and it would soon be his after all this time! Several painstaking minutes of clearing stone later, he cut open the door and swam over to the location where the safe had been kept. He sliced it open and trained his light upon... nothing. The safe wasn't there! Rothstein couldn't believe his eyes! He immediately began searching for a second secret storage system, but was ultimately left to conclude that the safe wasn't here. But how was that possible?! Who could have taken his safe?! To even remove it one would have to have Yorburg's DNA! Then it dawned on Rothstein.

"No... Not him..."

* * *

 _Two years later…_

Grey stood on the balcony of the latest Monarch expansion. With the massive new amount of cross-species around the globe, they had gone on to build new cross-species campuses to provide all the new cross-species with a place to receive specialized care and be among others who had gone through the same traumas as they had. Grey was currently serving as a sort of leader at a campus based in Ottawa. In addition to helping the cross-species who lived on campus learn how to control and cope with their new bodies, which was his job, they also had supported the construction of two new schools for elementary, junior high and high school nearby, which was open to everyone. There were several campuses per country and many were open to accepting 'ordinary people' as it was considered healthy for the world to have cross-species mingling with, once again, 'ordinary people'.

Checking his phone, he realized that he had a group to meet in twenty minutes! He hurried out the door and down to the massive gym on the first floor. A few minutes later, a group of about thirty cross-species walked through the gym doors. This group had a wide assortment of mutations, ranging from functional wings, to wasp stingers located in the wrists, to a venomous bite!

Grey looked at the cross-species before motioning for them to pair off.

"Alright, lets get to work!"

 **Annnnd, we are done with the second season! Well, we still have those bonus chapters coming out, but THOSE DON'T COUNT!**

 **Creativity: Just wait until we get to that one you've been cooking up for a while! Anyway, writing this one was a bit of a doozy.**

 **Author: Yeah. I wasn't quite sure how I wanted it to end, but I think I ended it well. I'm anticipating a shorter season in future, but I'm not positive. So, until my return (IGNORING BONUS CHAPTERS!) Goodbye, and have a wonderful summer!**


	36. Summer Special 1: REDACTED

**Good day to you all, and welcome to the first of our Summer Specials for A Really Bad Idea.**

 **Author: What's with the accent and sophisticated language?**

 **Creativity: Oh, well I was watching some old comedy shows and thought it would be kinda funny…**

 **Author: Let me handle decisions like that.**

 **Anyway, yes. This is the first Summer Special. It takes place one year after the world-wide mutation event from the end of 'season 2'. This one is kind of a 'protagonist isn't there and things go wrong ' bits. I hope you all enjoy. Also, there is a single line in this special I have been DYING to work into this story in some way. Take a guess as to what it is.**

 **Alright, I think that covers it. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Grey had intended for the day to be a slow, easygoing one. He'd intended to take one of his younger groups out on an outing to a nearby national park for the day. Nice and simple, since he had Barry visiting to help and for some reason, kids loved him. But no. They got to the main town in the national park and were there for about an hour before they heard people running and screaming from something. That something turned out to be a mutant slug of all things.

After making sure everyone, including the kids were evacuated, he and Barry went to deal with mucousy, squelching, absolutely disgusting problem that had slimed its horrid way to the town square and left the street and buildings behind it slippery, yet sticky.

The slug itself was about the length of three school buses , with a large circular mouth that had some sort of raspy tooth-like pads around the lips. It's large, bulbous eyes swayed to and fro and, based on the glow it was emitting, it was slightly radioactive.

This was one of the weirdest things Grey had seen from E.V.O's manufactured epidemic. Most stuff that wasn't human wasn't affected by it, but there were instances such as now when something got mutated. The last one Grey had heard of was a sea turtle that grew to have a shell that was fifteen feet long. However, this one definitely took the crown for the very worst mutation to come into existence.

The slug let out a gurgling shriek as it dragged itself towards Grey and Barry, who were trying to find some way of dealing with this latest mess without their gear. Their brainstorming was cut short when the slug let out another shriek and launched a projectile of glowing mucous at them, which missed them by several feet, but also created a large, glowing, slimy, disgusting patch of land that they would want to avoid like the plague.

They ducked and dodged, trying to avoid getting slimed until Grey made a big mistake and ran to the side where he thought it couldn't aim at him. It was at this moment that it thrashed about, swinging itself around to slam into him and launch him into the side of a wooden structure, completely drenched in the disgusting slime. Grey stood up, realizing just what had happened and something snapped in him. His circulatory system began to glow blue and his vision became tinged with blue as well.

He marched over to a nearby lamp post that had been knocked over earlier in the fight and lifted it over his shoulder. He started walking forward, slowly breaking into a run before he leapt into the air, lamp post still over his shoulder! He slammed the lamp post down through the slug's back before climbing on top of it and jumping on it a few times to drive it straight through the pavement before leaping off of it. Barry watched with a somewhat awestruck face before following him back to the Monarch vans that were waiting for them at a nearby parking lot. He climbed into shotgun and said not a single word as they drove back to the Monarch campus. He climbed out of the van and went straight inside, passing several staff who looked at him and realized that he was really close to completely losing it and wisely opted not to comment on the slime that was soaking into his clothes.

He went up to his personal quarters, which was almost a complete house tucked away inside the building. He had a living room, a kitchen with a full array of appliances, a bedroom and a washroom.

After eagerly ridding himself of his slime-sodden clothes, he took a VERY long shower to ensure that all of the gunk had thoroughly been removed from his body and throwing on some new clothes before removing any necessary valuables from slimy ones and putting the gunked clothes in a trash bag. He then took that trash bag down to the basement where they kept the incinerator and tossed them inside. Then he had to make a phone call.

"I'm taking the day off."

" _I heard that you had put an abrupt end to your little field trip today. Would you care to elaborate?"_ The acting chairwoman of the campus inquired.

"I spent my morning fighting an atomic snot rocket. Let the absurdity of what I just said sink in for a few moments. I already contacted cleanup and they're disposing of the carcass and doing what they can about the slime. Today has been rather trying. I am going to go and recover psychologically from being violently slimed and I don't want to be bugged for the rest of the day. Clear?"

" _Crystal."_

With that, Grey returned to his quarters and lay down on the sofa, put on some TV and tuned out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Barry and the younger cross-species were trying to figure out something to do with their day, now that the original plan had been scuppered. Many of them were disappointed, but seemed to understand that there couldn't really be any fun activities in the town so long as there was still slime to clean up, as well as checking to see if there were any more mutated wildlife in the area.

So, Barry just told them they had the rest of the day to themselves, as long as they stayed in the section of the building that was set aside for them, and went to the workout room to kill an hour or two. Most of the kids went back to their dorms, but a few went to one of the lounge areas to hang out and talk, or just to watch TV. Eventually though, they got bored with that and went back to join the others in their dorms.

However, there were two young cross-species that weren't content to just go back to their dorms. They're names were Chelsea and Jim. Chelsea was a lynx cross-species who's mutation resulted in a layer of fur that was regularly cut to keep her from overheating, feline eyes and nose, as well as a short tail. Jim's mutation was that of a pine martin. He had developed two curved fangs on both his upper and lower jaw, semi-retractable claws that were terrific for climbing and a more defined point to his ears. He also had patches of fur around his neck and upper back, forearms and shins.

Chelsea and Jim were bored. Very bored, in fact. So bored were they, that they were contemplating various methods of sneaking out to go on an adventure! So far they were coming up empty.

"We could try climbing out one of the windows." Jim thought aloud. Chelsea shook her head.

"Walter tried that two weeks in. They have alarms everywhere." Chelsea lamented.

"What about the vents?" Jim suggested.

"How would we get up there?" Chelsea reminded him.

"What about just walking out the front door?" Jim muttered sarcastically. Chelsea's eyes brightened.

"Yeah… no one's tried that yet! Maybe that'll work!" Chelsea exclaimed brightly.

It didn't work. The moment they left their wing, a staff member caught them, leading them to attempt to run away, only to be caught by one of the older cross-species, who was allowed to wander around outside their wing. But then they had a stroke of luck.

"If they're so eager to wander around, why don't I keep an eye on them? What's the harm in it if they're supervised?" The cross-species, named Emma, suggested. Her DNA had been mixed with a peregrine falcon, which caused her to develop a layer of feathers from her ribcage up to her neck, as well as a sort of feather 'frame' around her face. Her bones had become hollow and she had a thick layer of feathers along her forearms.

"Well, I suppose that would be fine…" The staff member pondered before nodding.

"As long as you keep an eye on them and they don't get into any trouble, it should be fine."

Emma smiled and thanked the staff member before motioning for the Chelsea and Jim to follow her.

"Just so you know, I am not going to cover for you two again." Emma called over her shoulder as they hurried after her.

"So, any thoughts on where you want to go?" Emma asked. The two younger cross-species just shrugged.

"What about the building across campus? I heard they've been keeping some non-human cross-species there." Chelsea suggested. Jim grinned. Emma frowned.

"I'm not sure that they have that section open to visitors, but there's other stuff to do there besides that. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a look."

And so, they made their way across a good stretch of land, dotted with walkways, bushes and flower gardens, several water fountains in a circle, all the way to a slightly more imposing building. This was where the hard science took place. Where they kept and studied wild cross-species, developed new gear for the Cross-Species Containment Division, which was comprised of both ordinary humans and human cross-species, and where they developed variations on existing medications for cross-species who may require them, but could not use the normal options. There were other projects that were worked on here of course, but they fell into sub-categories of the three main categories.

As they were walking over, they saw a massive Monarch transport hauling in an enormous tank that contained what appeared to be an enormous slug, unmoving slug. A massive door slid open and the slug was hauled inside.

"Okay, now I REALLY wanna see what's inside!" Jim exclaimed. Emma just winced in mild disgust at the sight of the giant slime ball and just kept walking. Chelsea and Jim hurried after her, not wanting to be left behind. Especially since they could get thrown right back in their dorms if they strayed to far. As soon as they were inside, they went to a nearby desk and asked what they could do as visitors. As it turned out, they were working on a wing for approved visitors to see the least threatening cross-species they had acquired, but it wasn't operational yet and they weren't approved. Still, they did have some places to look around. One thing that was nearly finished was a sort of museum that was dedicated to cross-species. A few of the 'exhibits' included an in-depth account of all known cross-species history, detailing the original kidnappings and what the first generation of cross-species could recall from the experiments, to Grey's escape and his time spent hunted, on to the attempted invasion and it's defeat, the counterattack, what information could be recovered on the experiments the eventually birthed Biollante and the other plant cross-species, and then the worldwide mutation event from a little under a year ago.

They skipped over that section since they had heard it all before. Hell, they'd lived it. Instead, they went ahead and checked out the rest of the building, which wasn't all that interesting. So, they went to leave.

Except, there was a bit of a hiccup. Jim fell behind a tad and lost sight of Emma and Chelsea. As he hurried to catch up, he accidentally took a turn down the wrong hallway, and apparently no one noticed that the young cross-species had done so. He hurried through the crisscrossing hallways until he eventually reached a large room with a set of metal stairs heading down to the floor. There were several elevated catwalks, which he was currently standing on, and many large vehicles, containers and, currently the most eye-catching, the gigantic, seemingly dead, slime oozing slug. Immediately realizing that he'd taken a wrong turn, Jim turned to hurry back the other way, only to find himself face to face with a security guard, along side Emma and Chelsea.

"I got lost." Jim said immediately. The guard and Emma rolled their eyes.

"Sure. Come on, lets get going before you land us in even more trouble." Emma muttered before turning to leave, followed by Chelsea. Jim hurried after them, keen on not taking another wrong turn.

Not even two seconds after they had turned around, when they heard a loud, squelching bellow of some sort, followed by violent thrashing and the sound of glass breaking. They turned around to see that the slug suddenly become very lively, considering there was a rather sizable hole through its body. It had already caused its prison to crack a rather terrifying amount and with one more thrash, it broke free. The security guard looked ready to employ some very choice words before being 'gently' reminded by Emma that Jim and Chelsea were present. They turned to run, only for the slug to rear up and slam its body against the side of the massive chamber, causing the catwalks to shake and begin falling apart! Now the security guard actually did start cursing as they all tumbled to the floor, really close to a puddle of the vile mucous. They scrambled away from it and started looking for the nearest exit. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the slug really wanted out, and was slamming its body against the shutter doors of the chamber, flinging slime everywhere as it did. Emma dragged Jim and Chelsea out of the way of the slime, taking shelter behind several large boxes. Soon, they heard the screeching noise of the metal finally reaching its limit and giving way, allowing the disgusting gastropod to escape and began hauling itself away from the campus and towards the nearest city. The three cross-species peered out from out from their hiding spot, seeing that the coast was now clear. And very slimy. They slowly approached the massive, gaping hole left by the slug's escape, carefully maneuvering through the slime bog left from the creature's thrashing.

"Grey is gonna be so mad when he finds out that thing is still alive and escaped." Chelsea breathed. Jim could only nod, dumbfounded by the events they had just bore witness to. Until a massive blob of slime dripped down from the ceiling, straight onto Emma. The expression on her face when the slime started rolling down her back was a mix of shock, the expression when someone has cold water run down their spine, and revolt. A few seconds later, she let out a breath that suggested she was about to began crying or break into hysterics. After a few moments, she seemed to collect herself.

"It is going to take a whole week to get this stuff out of my feathers…" Emma said in a small voice, still on the verge of snapping, before wiping a few globs of slime from her front before they all made their way out. They made their way back to the main campus, with Jim and Chelsea going back to their dorms and Emma going to the showers and staying there for a really, really long time. After disposing of her ruined clothes in the garbage first, of course.

* * *

Meanwhile, the slug was sliming its horrible through the streets of Ottawa, with police, military and Monarch personnel trying to evacuate civilians and stop the horrid beast that was squelching its way towards them. The latter wasn't going very well. Bullets and explosives weren't working due to the slimy mucous, which was sucking up all of the kinetic energy from firearms of all kinds. Eventually, Monarch got desperate enough to call in their specialized thermonuclear firearms. Unfortunately, it was going to take time to deploy them. Time that would only lead to further sliming of the city. Horrid, disgusting, dripping, sticky, slimy mucous that no rational person would go near with a thirty-foot pole.

* * *

Far off, at the Vancouver facility, Graham was observing the slug attack with a mixture of revulsion, fascination and annoyance.

"Didn't Grey kill that thing this morning?" Graham wondered aloud. A small window appeared off to the side of the window that displayed the live footage of the slug. The image showed an blue saturated image of a woman wearing a smart business suit.

" _Well, he did impale it through the middle with a lamp post and it stopped moving, so it was simply assumed. Besides, its life signs were really low; well within the parameters of dead or dying. Though it seems that it was just unconscious or playing possum."_

Graham pinched her nose.

"I saw the report, Beta. Do we have any word on Grey, or Sabrina, or someone that can help us deal with this… thing?" Graham asked exasperatedly. The AI was certainly helpful, but it had a bad habit of spitting out information that those present already knew.

" _Barry's en route and Sabrina was already on her way to visit as a guest instructor, so she just needs to get her gear. Grey hasn't been responding to any messages I've been sending. I suspect he's asleep or otherwise distracted. Perhaps he's already on his way. I'll hop over there and check. Also, it's Ion now, remember? I didn't spend the better part of eight months trying to decide on a name for myself for you to forget it every other minute."_ Ion, formerly known as Beta informed before their screen closed. Graham shook her head. She was never going to get used to calling Ion by her new name. And the AI would probably take to teasing her about it soon.

Turning her attention back to the screen, she could see Barry was hitching a ride with the vehicles that were bringing the thermonuclear weapons to the scene of the disaster. Hopefully this situation would be wrestled back under control and they could all get on with their lives. And begin de-sliming the city.

* * *

Back at Grey's room, Ion had just hopped into Grey's phone, which was sitting on his coffee table. Immediately, she could hear him through the phone's mic, snoring so loud that it was rather obnoxious. If Ion had eyes, they probably would have rolled. Cranking the phone's volume to max and engaging the speaker function, they 'cleared their throat' before pausing a moment.

" _WAKE UP!"_

Grey's eyes snapped open and he jumped so much that he fell of the couch and scrambled to his feet, his veins starting to emit a very faint blue glow. Then he saw Ion's face on his phone's screen.

"Ion, for the love of Godzilla's scaly green ass, you had better have a VERY good reason for doing that!" Grey half shouted, his eyes vaguely murderous.

" _I could have done it much worse. I could have used your TV. So, it turns out that slug you killed this morning isn't as dead as we had been led to believe. It's currently rampaging through Ottawa and Graham thought it was important you should know. You weren't responding to any messages, so I took matters into my own hands."_ Ion stated, a hint of a snarky tone in their voice. Grey's gaze went from vaguely murderous to VERY murderous in the span of a second. He marched into his room and didn't come out for a few minutes. When he did, he was in full kit. He touched his right gauntlet to his phone, allowing Ion to jump inside. He then marched down to the garage and climbed into one of Monarch's standard cars before roaring out of the garage and driving as fast as he could towards Ottawa. He could see the slime trail that the slug had left in its wake and glared down the road. As soon as he reached the city, he could see the slug's damage. There was plenty of that damn slime all over the place, forcing him to take several detours before he made to the actual fight. He climbed out of the car and glared at the slug, as if he was determined to make it burst into flames with his mind. Seeing a nearby piece of debris, he hefted it over his shoulder and hurled it at the slug, though it didn't really do much. It was like throwing a basket ball at a strung-up tarp. The slug's soft, slime-covered flesh just flexed inwards and the debris just rolled down its side until it hit the ground. Switching tactics, Grey charged up his gauntlets and unleashed two concentrated blasts at its flank. The blasts actually had a noticeable effect; causing the slime to instantly calcify and break off from the slug's body, but a massive glob of mucous just dripped down to replace it. Grey snarled and ran around the slug until he was right in front of it. He could see Barry with a large thermonuclear cannon gripped in both hands, unleashing all the firepower he could on the slug, but not doing that much damage. Sabrina was also using her gauntlets, albeit from rooftop, trying to attack the open wound Grey had inflicted earlier that day, but was not enjoying any success as the slime was replaced to quickly. Grey charged up his gauntlets again and began attacking the slug's face, maintaining a constant stream of energy, determined to bring this damn slug down.

It didn't work. Grey was tired and running low on ionizing radiation, and had made absolutely no headway against the stupid slug!

"How can it keep producing that much slime?! Where does it get the material for it?!" Grey shouted, outraged.

" _Perhaps a mutation due to the virus. Does it matter? Now, I believe you had some success with impaling it before, correct?"_ Ion interjected. Grey grumbled.

"Not as much as we thought. Your point?"

" _Try it again."_ Ion said with a bright tone of voice. Grey huffed and looked around. He saw another lamp post lying on the ground and marched over to it, hefting it over his shoulder. He turned to see the slug was hauling its miserable carcass forward and realized what Ion was getting at.

"Ion, if this doesn't work, I will find a way to end you. Painfully. And I will enjoy every second of it." Grey muttered. If Ion heard him, they didn't acknowledge him. Grey began to walk forward, breaking into a run. The slug opened its mouth and let loose it's wretched, gurgling cry as Grey leapt into the air, bellowing as he went, driving the lamp post forward, straight into the slug's mouth. Unfortunately, this led to him going right INTO its mouth. The end of the lamp post emerged from the slug's back and it froze. Then a blue beam shot out of it's back and moved in a circle down its back until it was cut almost entirely in half.

The onlookers watch in awe, disgust and pity as Grey clawed his way out of the burnt carcass of the slug and onto solid ground. He let out one last cry before flopping on his front, completely out cold.

* * *

No one saw Grey for the rest of the week. He spent the whole time in his room and didn't come out to eat or anything. His door was locked and he didn't respond to any messages.

On the eighth day of his self-imposed isolation, they became worried and forced entry into his quarters, only to find him sitting on the couch, staring at the ground with a thousand-yard stare. They tried shaking his shoulders, snapping their fingers under his nose, Sabrina even tried slapping him in the face. He was completely unresponsive.

On the tenth day, he emerged from his quarters, seemingly fine, except that he seemed rather jumpy.

On day fourteen, he made everyone who had been present at the battle to swear that they would never again, on the Godzilla's bones, NEVER AGAIN, speak of the slug incident.

All parties agreed. And everything went on as normal.

* * *

 **I'm going to be VERY mean to Grey in these specials.**

 **Creativity: No kidding. I can't believe you actually went and did RESEARCH on…**

 **Author: SHAHT AHP! That is for next time!**

 **Yes, I am going to be very mean indeed. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! See ya for the next special!**


	37. Summer Special 2: The Contest

**Good day to you all! Welcome to our second Summer Special!**

 **Creativity: This one is gonna be really mean to Grey.**

 **Author: Yeah… Jeez I almost feel sorry.**

 **Almost… Heheheheheh…**

 **ANYWAY! It's the end of June as I'm writing this one. The outline of what I want the third and final 'season' for this story is getting close to completion. Plus, I've got a few ideas for potential short spinoffs. Aside from the ones I already mentioned.**

 **Creativity: Still can't get over what we're about to put poor Grey through.**

 **Author: Try not to think about it too much.**

 **Anyway, as I said originally (I think. Too lazy to go back through) I intend to return some time between August and November. Progress has been slow-going, so my money is leaning towards the latter side of the two.**

 **But, them's the breaks. In the meantime, enjoy the second Summer Special!**

* * *

Sabrina groaned as she hauled herself out of bed. She was currently in one of the guest suites at Monarch's Ontario campus, subbing in for Grey who was on vacation in Arizona with his friends. More specifically, they were visiting Jessica's relatives for a week. Checking the clock, she realized that she had about half an hour before her first 'class' started. She was going to be working with a class consisting mainly of cross-species who were capable of flying or gliding. According to what Grey had left for her, they were focusing on building strength in whatever their method of flight was, then trying to figure out technique.

Sabrina groaned as she stretched and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Once the was done, she threw on a dark green T-shirt and her preferred workout shorts as she waited for her toast to pop and coffee to finish brewing. After breakfast, she made her way through the campus down to where the 'class' was being held. Along the way, her mind drifted to Grey and his friends' vacation.

Jessica had started visiting more, due to Arizona being a more hospitable climate for her, and Monarch being willing to cover the costs. Grey occasionally went as well to act as a guest instructor at a nearby Monarch campus. Grey had mentioned Jessica was considering trying to transfer there, since it would probably be more comfortable and she could see her extended family without having to fly so often. But this time, Grey didn't have any 'work' related stuff to keep him occupied, so he booked a hotel and travel accommodations for himself, Tobi and Max for a week-long stay.

She'd met them once or twice and ended up getting along rather well with Jessica and Tobi, but she wasn't really sure what to make of Max. He was always a little TOO nice to her and it became rather weird and/or off-putting rather quickly. Though, it did seem to amuse Grey a fair bit. Why he found it funny, she couldn't understand.

Jessica was the easiest for her to relate to, especially after the worldwide infection. Sabrina imagined that Jessica was much happier in Arizona right now, then in Canada. It was many times warmer, meaning she didn't have to pile on layers to maintain her body temperature, even during the warmer months. Being literally cold-blooded was a disadvantage that Sabrina was glad she didn't have to cope with. Still, the fact that they were both cross-species led to an easy common ground, then to friendship. Jessica had opted to seek residency at the British Columbia Campus, which was an expansion of the original Vancouver facility, seeing as the climate was much warmer in general than the closer Ontario location.

She snapped out of her musings when she realized she was at the gym. She was still a few minutes early, so she decided to do some quick stretches, wondering what Grey was doing in Arizona right now.

* * *

 _Meanwhile, in Arizona…_

"So, it's a carnival?"

"Sort of…" was Jessica's reply to Grey's question.

"It's kinda small to be considered a carnival. I mean, they got a few rides, stage shows and concession stands, but its mostly just local businesses setting up an outdoor market. Still, it's a pretty good way to spend a day!" Jessica continued. Grey did find it rather interesting and who knew if he would be able to make it to the next one.

After throwing on a dark blue T-shirt with a black asymmetrical nuclear warning sign emblazoned across his side, as well as some beige shorts, he stepped outside and waited for everyone else. Jessica was the next one out, wearing a red top and jeans. She wasn't as concerned about hiding she was a cross-species out here, since Arizona had just slowly developed to have the densest population of reptilian cross-species in North America, no doubt due to the consistently hot weather. Max and Tobi were out next, still slathering themselves in sunscreen. Grey felt a vague pang of sympathy for his friends, seeing as how he and Jessica no longer had to worry about sunburn. Or how swelteringly hot it was. Grey didn't have quite the same affinity for Arizona's midday summer sun as Jessica, but he was certainly more comfortable than Max and Tobi.

And so, they set off for the carnival. They ended up walking since Jessica's family lived rather close to the site where the event was set up every year; a parking lot near a large stretch of open, flat land. Most of the rides were set up in the parking lot, while the small stage shows and the stalls displaying the wares of the local businesses were all in the flat stretch.

After about ten minutes of walking, they reached the carnival. It was surprisingly busy already, considering it had only started half an hour ago. It was a little past midday already and the carnival was already packed, though not uncomfortably so.

"So, where should we start?" Grey asked.

"I'd say we get the rides out of our system before we decide to eat anything. I don't feel like spewing my lunch everywhere after going on one of those twister rides." Tobi suggested. Everyone agreed the sentiment, so they opted to go on the aforementioned 'twister' ride. It was a pretty standard sight at events like this. A set of pods that rotated along an axis, going up and down inclines, but were anchored in place by a pin that allowed them to rotate freely. It wasn't much of a wait before they were paired off and strapped into the pods. Jessica and Tobi were in one pod, while Max and Grey were in another. The ride lasted only a couple of minutes, but that still left them good and dizzy. Max and Grey especially, since Grey's added weight made the pod spin much faster. They stumbled away and let the world stop rotating before moving on to a tamer ride. Unfortunately, there wasn't one. There was a bog-standard roller coaster, a swinging pirate's ship, the twister, and a few children's rides, but that was about it. So, they decided to go browse what the local businesses had to offer. As they were doing so, Grey couldn't help but wonder how Sabrina was doing, subbing in for his vacation. She already did similar stuff back in one of Brazil's campuses, though it wasn't quite the same.

* * *

 _Back in Ontario…_

Grey was right on it not being quite the same. Sabrina was actually having it rather easy. They had gone through a pre-planned exercise regimen, designed to strengthen their lungs as well as each cross-species method of flight, and were just finishing up with the technique portion of the session.

It was somewhat hard for her to help with the technique portion of things, seeing as she didn't have wings of any kind, but there weren't any cross-species that had the experience to teach others. Still, it was going smoothly, all things considered. They had started by trying to perfect a glide, for those who had wings capable of gliding, by setting up a raised platform above several gymnastics safety mats. The goal was to leap off the platform and glide over all of the mats to a finish line at the end. For those who had wings capable of gliding to begin with, this exercise wasn't unfamiliar, though they hadn't had many successes yet. Today, everyone had successfully started a glide, though only about half of them were able to maintain the glider, and even fewer maintained it all the way to the finish line, successfully landing without using their faces.

There were one or two who had insectoid wings, they had their own exercise of hovering in one place as long as they could before losing balance. Once they could hold it consistently for a few minutes and repeat the exercise without fail, they could begin working on movement.

By the end of the session, Sabrina was quite satisfied with everything they got done. As everyone left, she checked her schedule and found that she had an hour to kill before the next group. Sabrina's first thought was to go get something to eat, but that was before she realized that she reeked from the exercise. Quick shower first, snack afterwards.

She quickly ducked into the nearby showers and gave herself a brief scrub down before heading off to the cafeteria and grabbed half a light sandwich. The small meal was enough to tide her over for the next session.

Said session was going to require a bit of setup, so she went back to the gym and walked over to one of the walls. It a climbing wall of sorts built into the wall, as well as several rope ladders attached to the ceiling. Sabrina pulled the safety pins out and dragged the setup out of the wall, single-handedly. It normally would have required more effort, but her enhanced strength made it much easier.

Once everything was in place, she replaced the safety pins and made sure that everything was properly locked in place. Satisfied that everything was safe and secure, she went over to the benches along the far wall and took a seat, waiting for the next group.

It wasn't long before they showed up. This group was specifically for climbing, hence the strange setup Sabrina had been hauling out.

There was a much greater dispersal of secondary species than the flying group; ranging from mammals, to reptiles, and several others to name a few.

They went through a few warmup exercises before moving into climbing. They had different types of surfaces to accommodate different methods of climbing. For those who used claws to climb, they had a special wall that simulated surfaces that would be used to climb, such as tree bark or rock cliffs, just to name a few. For others, such as varying species of monkey, there was a rope gauntlet to train with. Some were alternating between the two.

Sabrina ended up taking part in the rope gauntlet, since her increased strength and endurance did lend well to this sort of exercise.

All in all, the session went just as well as the flying session! Sabrina was starting to consider whether or not she should start doing more work like this, since it was going so well!

* * *

 _Meanwhile, at the carnival…_

"Say what?"

"You heard me."

"You seriously are daring me to…"

"Yep."

Grey was looking at his friends like they had just announced they were space aliens. They were currently standing by a stage with two long tables on them which had several plates. There was a massive wooden sign above the stage with a large scorpion with a fork and knife crisscrossing behind it.

"A scorpion eating contest." Grey stated, starting to look rather nervous.

"Yeah. It's kind of a staple event, here." Jessica informed them.

"You want me to enter a SCORPION eating contest." Grey reiterated. His friends all nodded, grinning at him. Grey shifted his gaze to Jessica.

"you knew about this, didn't you?" He questioned.

"Yep." Jessica responded, popping the p at the end.

"You told them about this before we came here." He continued.

"Almost as soon as you guys landed, when you went to the washroom." Jessica stated, her eyes glimmering evilly. Grey's eyes widened with fear and betrayal.

"Why do you want me to enter a scorpion eating contest?" He asked, his voice a bit higher than usual.

"Well, since you were a jerk by not telling us about being a cross-species, and scoring cheap laughs with that Halloween costume from two years ago, plus teasing me about having to add crickets and other bugs to my diet. But mainly because we really want to see you participate in a scorpion eating contest." Jessica explained, her grin widening.

"Oh, come on! I paid for you all to come visit me in Vancouver, I wasn't the only one teasing about the bugs, and getting mad over the Halloween costume is just petty!" Grey exclaimed. Jessica and the others shrugged.

"Perhaps, but we already spoke to the organizers and arranged for you to be signed up, Mr. Celebrity cross-species. No backing out now!" Tobi chimed, a diabolical grin plaster all over his face. Grey glowered at all of them

"Mark my words, there WILL be retribution for this. Violent and excruciatingly painful retribution. Cruel, and with no remorse." Grey promised them as he heard the call for the contestants of the scorpion eating contest to come to the stage. If one looked carefully, they could have sworn that they saw tiny ripples of heat rising from his skin. If they saw his eyes, they would probably describe them as vaguely murderous.

"Do you think we'll come to regret this?" Tobi asked after a few moments as they watched Grey take his seat at the table. They could see and, more importantly, feel Grey's glare as he waited for the announcer to begin.

"Welcome everyone, to one of the many highlights of today's festivities: The Scorpion Eating Contest! I believe the name is self explanatory, but I'll go over the rules briefly. Each contestant must attempt to relocate each scorpion on their plate to their stomachs as fast as possible! In addition to this, any contestant that finds themselves incapable of holding the contests of their stomach will be disqualified, and be provided with a garbage bag. Any questions? No? Well then, bring out the edibles!"

Several men and women came out from behind stage, swapping out the empty plates for plates with several large, but thankfully dead and de-stingered scorpions. Max could have sworn that Grey's very stare was going to set the 'food' on fire.

"ANNNND… GO!"

Grey immediately began to work down his first scorpion. Surprisingly, he was doing it rather efficiently.

"I've heard of emotional eating, but I don't think I've ever seen it in the context of being angry." Tobi quipped as they watched. Grey was already on his third scorpion and was in the lead. And there went another one.

Grey was starting the fifth scorpion when someone two seats down from them couldn't handle anymore and rushed off stage before the crowd heard him voiding his stomach of the scorpions he had eaten. This started a bit of a chain reaction, with two more fleeing the stage before vomiting in the background.

Grey was on his eighth scorpion now and showed no signs of slowing down, let alone stopping. His glower had not let up and his gaze was fixed upon his treacherous friends.

"Umm, I'm kinda starting to get concerned about his promise of retribution." Jessica said, a hint of fear in her voice. This was further compounded when he pointed with two of his fingers at himself, then back at his friends. Down went the tenth scorpion.

"He's actually doing it. He's actually going to win this…" Tobi gasped. It was true. Grey was in the lead by a very wide margin, and was finishing the fourteenth scorpion. He grabbed the final one and ate it as if he was determined to grind it to dust before swallowing and slamming his hands down on the table.

"WE. HAVE. A. WINNNNNERRRRR!" the announcer shouted as the other contestants stopped. Another one rushed off stage to vomit as Grey was presented with a small trophy with a golden scorpion on top.

He accepted it with as much feigned pride as he could muster as he walked off stage stiffly and back to his friends, who were now keeping their distance from him.

"I repeat, there will be retribution for this…" He promised before turning and heading back out to the market. Max, Tobi and Jessica all followed behind, fearing what retribution Grey was plotting for them.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. They did some shopping, chatted with a few of the shopkeepers, but did NOT go to get any food or try any more rides. They weren't eager to push Grey's stomach after… that. However, they were rather concerned that Grey seemed to have acquired a few shopping bags and refused to let anyone know what he had purchased.

Eventually, they all went back to Jessica's relatives' place, since they had left the car there. They were invited to stay for dinner, but politely declined on account of Grey. Though, they didn't explicitly state why.

Later that evening, Max. Tobi and Jessica noticed a distinct lack of the fourth member of the group in their deluxe hotel suite. Fearing his retribution was upon them, they hurried out of the hotel room until it was late at night, when they got a phone call.

" _Where'd you guys go to?"_ Grey asked over the phone.

"Where did you go to!? You vanished over an hour ago!" Jessica exclaimed, with Tobi and Max peering over her shoulder.

" _I thought I told Tobi that I got a call from Monarch and was going to step out for a bit. Then I started to not feel to well so I thought some fresh air would do me good. Anyway, I'm back in the room. Where are all of you at?"_

Tobi looked confused for a second.

"We're still in the hotel. We'll be right back." Jessica replied and they started heading back.

"Did he say anything to you?" Max asked.

"Now that you mention it, I think he did say something to me before he disappeared, but I can't remember what it was." Tobi responded.

When they got back they found Grey sitting on the couch, watching TV. He looked a bit pale.

"I think those scorpions are starting to revolt." He groaned with a bit of strain in his voice. They could also hear some vague accusation in his voice. But they felt no guilt. However, they did feel a bit of fear.

But the retribution they feared did not come. But late that night, they heard someone rushing through one of the rooms to the washroom. They could all guess who.

After several minutes of listening to Grey relieving his stomach of those damned scorpions, they heard him mutter several curses under his breath before taking some medication and going to bed. The rest of the night was without incident.

Yeah right. Around half past midnight, they heard what sounded like an analog alarm clock going off in Jessica's room. Well, everyone except Grey, who was wearing noise-cancelling headphones. Then again, at five past one. Another one went off. And so, this continued until four in the morning, when alarms stopped going off.

The next morning brought about another form of disruption.

"WHERE IS MY UNDERWEAR?!" Max and Tobi both shouted in unison. They both turned to Grey, who was just pulling on a pair of shorts before shrugging and walking to the fridge and pulling out a carton of milk they had purchased for breakfasts. He poured himself some cereal and sat down on the couch, completely unperturbed by his friends panic over their missing undergarments.

They ran all over the hotel, occasionally glaring at Grey, who remained completely calm. Amused, even.

Eventually, one of them threw open the freezer door in desperation and froze in place.

"Grey, would you care to explain why our underwear is now inside two mixing bowls of ice?" Tobi asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh, is that where they went? How did they get there?" He asked with feigned ignorance. Max and Tobi looked ready to blow their corks. That all evaporated when they heard Jessica let out one hell of a shriek. A few seconds later, it was followed up by a bellow.

"GREY, I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!"

Jessica stormed into the room, holding what at first glance appeared to be a VERY large rubber tarantula. Until it's legs moved at least.

"You put a robotic tarantula in my suitcase?!" She shouted angrily, until she saw Tobi and Max in their pajamas, who looked just as steamed.

"What did he do to you?" She asked.

"He put our underwear in bowls of water and froze it." Tobi said through gritted teeth. Jessica looked at them, slack jawed.

"Seriously!?" She exclaimed. They turned their gaze back to Grey, who calmly put down his breakfast and stood up.

"I spent my evening sick to my stomach from you three convincing me to eat scorpions. I'm not done with you three. Not by a long shot."

And just like that, their anger dissolved back into fear.

What horrible vengeances did he have left for them?!

In truth, Grey didn't have any more plans left. Instead, he just made them think he did. And for the rest of the vacation, the thoughts of his next vengeance had them constantly looking over their shoulders.

And that was all the vengeance he needed.

 **So, I've wanted to do the scorpion eating contest for a while.**

 **Creativity: The studio would also like to request that the fact we only chose a mini carnival in Arizona for the scorpion eating contest for the sole purpose that Arizona was the first place that came to mind that would have scorpions as well as what passes for modern civilization these days (Note, not a dig at Arizona, just a statement of the world as a whole right now), and is not meant to offend or insult Arizona or anyone who lives there. It was all just for one gag.**

 **Author: Thank you.**

 **Well then, I will leave you with the premise for the next Summer Special: Wedding gone wrong!**


	38. Summer Special 3: The Wedding

**Good day to you all! I come to you with the third an final Summer Special of 2018!**

 **Creativity: I'M SO EXCITED!**

 **Author: Yes, we all are.**

 **So, this is the one that's been brewing in my brain since I first started this story. I wasn't sure where I wanted it, and decided that it would be good for a special of some kind. Then I had the idea to do three separate specials and to cap it off with this one!**

 **So, we're just finishing up the planning as this is being written, and it's looking real good. No spoilers, of course, but I feel really confident about this one.**

 **Actually, it occurred to me the other day that come July 16** **th** **, this story will officially be one year old. It's been my most successful story to date, in regards to growth and reviews, so I feel like I owe everyone who had a read, left a review, or offered a PM of helpful advice to help this story continue. And I thank you all for that.**

 **That said, I do have a bit of a request. Since July sixteenth is coming up really fast, I would like to request that this story be shared as much as possible to help it reach 10K reads before the one-year mark. We currently sit at 8, 750 as of this writing, so we only have 1, 250 to go. If we pull it off, I'll write a final special for this story when it is concluded, as a send-off of sorts.**

 **Creativity: Oh, how I love a ticking clock!**

 **Author: I'm not sure what to think of that. Anyway, I present to you the final Summer Special of 2018!**

* * *

 **Post Completion Edit: A quick disclaimer. Any and all specific named locations are completely fictitious because I was too lazy to do research. It's summer, I don't want to use my brain more than is strictly necessary.**

 **We now return to your regularly scheduled chapter.**

* * *

Grey yawned as he made his way back up to his room. He'd had two extra sessions with younger cross-species and he was rather worn out. He'd eaten a pretty basic meal of pasta with meat-sauce and made his way straight to his room for bed. But, there was some business to attend to first.

He slumped down in his desk chair and opened his laptop, opening the video-call app. A few mouse-clicks later, his mother appeared on the screen.

"Hey, mom."

" _Hello, Grey! I'm glad you remembered to call! I was half-worried you'd forgotten!"_ Grey's mother responded jokingly. Grey rolled his eyes.

"Gee, thanks! How is everyone? And what's this big thing you needed to tell me about?" Grey asked. He'd gotten a text from his mother, regarding something she needed to tell him. His phone had responded with a pre-written 'unavailable' message, so he could have missed it. He noticed it later, during his lunch break and sent a message back that he'd talk to her in the evening.

" _Well, we just got some mail from Alberta this morning, from your cousins…"_ Grey's mother paused as she saw Grey's immediate attempt to keep from groaning.

" _I know you have your differences with them, but honestly. Anyway, you remember how George got engaged a year ago?"_

Grey rubbed his temples.

"Sounds familiar, but that was a bit of a hectic time for me. So, I'm assuming that the mail was wedding invitations? Why did they do it via the post? I mean, it's 2036!"

" _I imagine that they wanted to do the invitations the old-fashioned way. I'm just finishing up the RSVPs and was wondering if you would like to bring someone."_

Grey almost laughed.

"Ummm, no. I am not bringing a plus one."

" _I'm just checking, no need to be prickly about it. I wasn't sure if perhaps you'd met someone by now and not told me. You and that friend of yours always look so nice together. Sabrina, was it?"_

Grey groaned again.

"Me and Sabrina have no interest in dating ANYONE at the moment, let alone each-other. And please, for the love of Godzilla, do not try to set me up with anyone at the wedding. You remember how disastrous your last matchmaker scheme ended." Grey reminded his mother, who only winced. It was better left unsaid how that ended.

" _I know, I know. Don't get involved in anyone else's love life. Though for the record, they are speaking again."_

Grey rolled his eyes again.

"Took them long enough, especially since they were told the whole scheme afterwards. Anyway, so when is the wedding?"

" _At the end of August. You have formal wear, right?"_

Grey shrugged.

"I do, but probably not 'wedding' formal. I'll try to pick something out before then. What's the location?"

" _They didn't where specifically, but it is in Ontario. I was speaking to your uncle and he did mention a national park."_

"Well, it better not be the one near campus, because we've discovered a couple of non-human cross-species in the area. One of them was that slug that hit Ottawa a month or so back."

" _I'm sure they took safety conditions into mind when they were scheduling. Talk to you soon, sweetie!"_

"G'night, mom."

Grey signed off and groaned. He avoided his cousins like the plague. Well, George was fine. In fact, George was actually great! Certainly a far-cry from his younger sisters. If Grey was to describe them in two words, with language restrictions, he would describe them as 'eccentric' and 'challenging'. If he was to use an acronym, it would be PITAs.

His female cousins were incredibly difficult to deal with since they seemed pathologically obsessed with following him around, pranking him, dragging him into another ridiculous mess that he would take the fall for until things were set straight by George (There was a good reason that Grey thought highly of George).

Why he kept getting in trouble because of those two, even though George always set the record straight at the end, Grey would never understand. Oh, then there was the dress-up disaster!

A month or so before he was kidnapped and experimented on, during their last visit that Grey was in attendance for, they had managed to lock him in their room and dressed him up like a princess! It was laughed at until George pointed out that they had actually dragged him very much against his will and restrained him to do so, which put the kibosh on any snickers afterwards. Though in fairness, Grey had the last laugh. He stole their smartphones, with all their pictures of him, and erased every single photo on them. He then proceeded to make a few… alterations to the spell-check of their message apps. That had been really satisfying. He didn't quite know how well his little trick had gone, since he hadn't seen them since then, but he imagined that he would get an earful at the wedding. Or, maybe they would have mellowed out and he wouldn't have to deal with anything from them.

Yeah right. That's what he thought the last time they visited. In fact, the exact opposite had happened. Grey grumbled as he input the information into his phone, as well as a reminder to notify the campus' management that he would be taking leave for the wedding. And to get some fancier clothes.

* * *

 _Ten days before the wedding…_

Grey groaned tiredly pulled up in front of the hotel the wedding attendees would be staying at in one of Monarch's nicer cars. After parking it in an underground garage, he pulled out his luggage and made his way inside. It had been a four-hour drive from the Monarch campus to the hotel and he was tired. He could have arranged for a helicopter or plane to take him, but he opted not to since he would likely be trapped with his extended family in the airport and the ride from the airport to the hotel. The silence of the driving was rather bliss, and despite how tired he was, he would prefer to still be driving rather than dealing with his cousins. Oh well…

As he stepped into the lobby, he could see his mother, father, Sam, Mark and the extended family all hanging out in the main lobby. Immediately, Sam and Mark noticed him and rushed over in an effort to tackle him. Grey put his bags down and braced for impact. He didn't even budge. After he managed to gently pry his younger siblings off of his body, he made his way over to the group to greet them. The greetings he received from his aunt and uncle were rather… stiff, for lack of a better term. George's greeting was a far-cry from his aunt and uncle; Very welcoming and open. Then came George's younger sisters. Grey steeled himself and they exchanged greetings. They weren't quite as stiff as their parents, but it was still rather stiff.

After all of the awkward greetings had been handled, Grey made sure he was checked in and handed his luggage of to a bellhop and followed the group to the hotel restaurant. It was already around dinner time and Grey was starving! Luckily, it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. Grey was definitely going to get more than his money's worth out of this place. Everyone made their way to the buffet table and piled food onto their plates, though they seemed rather bemused by the sheer quantity of food that Grey was piling on. Well, his extended family was. Grey's family knew that he now regularly ate massive amounts at all three meals or, more commonly, he would eat five meals a day. Once they were all seated at one of the long tables, everyone began eating and chatting amongst themselves.

"So, where's the reception going to be? I haven't exactly been brought up to speed." Grey asked with a hint of embarrassment.

"In a site that a national park rents out for events like this." His uncle replied. Grey nodded.

"What's the name of this park?"

"Oak Ridge." His uncle replied again. Grey paused.

"They're still offering rentals? I would have thought the government would have put all that stuff on hold." Grey wondered quietly. His uncle, aunt and George all looked up at him.

"Why's that?" George asked, somewhat concerned. Grey started cutting up a piece of roast chicken as he elaborated.

"Monarch's pulled three cross-species out of Oak Ridge's land in the past two months. They actually had me helping them with the last one." Grey informed. This made the atmosphere around the table much more awkward. Since Grey hadn't seen his extended family since his mutation, he had never actually gone over the details of what happened to him, as well as the life he now led as an employee of Monarch, the international representative of all humanoid cross-species, and occasional destroyer of E.V.O's bases. Though, he might omit the last one from that list if he was going to provide an explanation later.

"I wonder why we weren't informed of that…" His uncle wondered aloud. His voice sounded a bit tight. Grey knew that tone was to be associated with frustration, so he opted to drop the subject if at all possible.

"They probably think that we got the last of them, and I'd say the odds are that they're right. Three is a pretty high number to be found in the same general area, so I'd say we're in the clear in that regard." Grey assured, though he personally wasn't feeling so confident about that. He made a mental note to make a quick call that night. In the meantime, he went back to his meal. And then went back for seconds. By the end of the night, he'd eaten three full plates worth of food! Afterwards, Grey and his siblings retired for the evening, while everyone else hung out in the hotel bar.

All in all, Grey found the gathering today had gone rather well, all things considered. He'd had basically zero interaction with two out of three of his cousins, George had been great to talk to, and aside from that one topic, they'd basically avoided any and all discussion of Grey's new life. Now all that was left for him to do was make a quick call.

"Hey, Graham. I know this is short notice, but could you have a set of gauntlets sent to the hotel I'm staying at tonight? Oh, and maybe send Ion along as well, just in case."

" _I thought you had confirmed that the gear you packed was enough. Did you forget them? Also, Ion's a bit tied up with those therapy sessions with Rose and her more docile clones. We're getting close to a breakthrough and we can't abandon the sessions without suffering a setback."_

"Just send them along if they feel they can make it. And the reason I need the gauntlets is just a precaution. Turns out my cousin's wedding is being held at Oak Ridge national park."

"… _I see. I'll have a drone fly in a set of our new, lighter model gauntlets. I'm assuming you can't wear them during the wedding, so they can be collapsed for ease of transport, and they can be equipped and operational in record time. I guess you weren't exactly paranoid when you asked for that bulletproof suit."_

"Trouble tends to find me. Also, thanks for the watch. It's much less conspicuous than those bracelets."

" _Thank Ion for the watch. They designed it. Also, they said than there's a few extra features in there. I'm almost scared of what they could be."_

"I'll be careful with it. Maybe get one of our Ontario response crews on standby, just in case we run into something that requires… handling."

" _Will do. Have a good evening."_

Grey hung up and waited patiently until his parents got back to the room before returning to his own. From there, he waited patiently until he got an alert on his phone that the drone was about to arrive. He had informed the hotel management that he was expecting a delivery via drone shortly after he made the phone call, just to ensure that no one was startled by the arrival. He walked outside and heard the whirring sound of the drone approaching. It lowered a small case which he removed from the drone, then pressed his thumb to a fingerprint scanner, indicating it had been delivered to its intended recipient.

He immediately returned to his hotel room and made sure he was alone before opening the case to look at the new gauntlets. They were much less bulky and like Graham had mentioned, they were collapsible. When collapsed, they looked like large plastic cuffs. Of course, their collapsible nature came with a few drawbacks. Chiefly, they lacked the same level of firepower his usual gauntlets provided, and didn't have the new options that Ion had helped develop either. But they would be enough, should the need for their use arise.

After making sure that the gauntlets were safely stashed away, Grey decided to get some extra sleep. He imagined he would need it for the next few days.

* * *

 _Four days before the wedding…_

Grey grumbled as he pulled back up in front of the hotel. He had gone with George to see how preparations for the reception site were going. He'd also done a bit of scouting by himself to see if there was the possibility of any cross-species in the vicinity, but didn't find any evidence of one that might be prowling around the woods. He did find a garter snake pit, though. It was about a five-minute walk through the woods from the reception site, so he thought it best to inform George of this, since it was getting close to the time when the garter snakes would start to return to said pits to hibernate. George wasn't too concerned about the garter snakes. They were harmless anyway, so the worst they might do is spook one or two of the guests. If they even showed up, that is.

He'd also spent the last couple of days forced back into the office in a way, as his uncle was now using him as essentially a witness for the potentially unsafe environment they had rented for the wedding reception. As such, he was forced to contact Monarch for a full-detail report on their recent operations to search for/remove cross-species from the environment. That had been a rather awkward and boring set of phone calls. In the meantime, his uncle had been contacting park management and threatening a lawsuit if problems ensued. So that would be fun. Still, he'd be able to forget it for the night. George was having a sort of mini-bachelor party in the hotel bar, which Grey was 'invited' to attend. Well, since he'd received something approaching a formal invitation, he had to go. But he knew it wouldn't be that bad. Besides, by the end of the night they'd probably be completely and utterly plastered, and that could make for some fun.

But then the universe decided that Grey's time leading up to the reception was too comfortable, and decided to toss one hell of a screwball at him. There were still wedding guests arriving, particularly, a few latecomers for the bride, who had arrived a day or two earlier; A lovely young woman named Cordelia Jones. Grey had spoken to her a little and she kept talking about a cousin she hadn't spoken to for a while was coming and that she was very excited to see her again. Apparently, she was in the midst of applying for a position within Monarch as well, making her very excited to introduce to Grey. Thankfully, Cordelia didn't seem to know precisely who Grey was, or what he actually did at Monarch. She seemed to assume he was just a member of their cross-species response teams, which was just fine by Grey. But it didn't seem that it would stay that way for very long, for the aforementioned cousin was arriving.

Grey walked into the lobby and was heading past the front desk when the latest person to check in turned around and saw him.

"You?!"

Grey turned to see who had just shouted in his general direction and felt shock, recognition, exasperation and finally, resignation. It turns out the cousin of Cordelia Jones was one Camilla Jones. The same Camilla Jones that had been hired by Dr. Rothstein to be later recruited into Neo-Gen's cross-species program. After the whole debacle with Biollante, the giant moth (Which had been codenamed Mothra by one of the technicians) and Godzilla, not to mention Rose and her clones, Camilla had been placed under investigation regarding any potential involvement in the cross-species program. She was found innocent, with Monarch helping to prove her innocence, but she still seemed to harbor some resentment towards Grey specifically for her suffering in that debacle.

"What are you doing here?!" Camilla exclaimed as her luggage was taken by a bellhop to her room.

"I'm here for a wedding. And I'm assuming that since you and the bride share a last name, you're here for the same reason." Grey responded evenly, though he was mentally cursing the universe for throwing this at him in the midst of all this. Camilla just began rubbing her temples.

"Of all the people who could possibly attending this wedding, it had to be you?! Of course, it did! I cannot believe that this is happening!" She ranted. Grey rolled his eyes.

"Okay, I get that the whole investigation thing was… stressful, but it's not like I had any control over it. Besides, Monarch argued in your defence. Look, is this going to cause interference with the wedding? Because I am completely willing to leave if need be." Grey interrupted/offered. Camilla stopped rubbing her temples and pinched her nose.

"No, I am not going to ask you to ditch a wedding because of that. Just please, for the love of all that remains holy in this world, keep your distance." Camilla responded in an almost pleading way. Grey held up his hands and backed off a bit.

"Don't worry, I'll keep away as much as I can. Oh, just as a heads up, you might want to avoid the bar tonight. My cousin George, the groom to be specific, is getting the men together for a night of drinking. I've been 'invited' and I can't exactly turn it down without my family breathing down my neck about it, so I'm going. Besides, it'll probably get rowdy later. Last I heard from George, he was a bit of a loud drinker and I don't see why the others wouldn't be either." Grey advised before strolling off. He went up to his room to rest a bit, as well as contemplate just how much the universe REALLY liked to screw with him. Though, he imagined it probably hadn't been a walk in the park for Camilla these last few months. Though, Cordelia had mentioned that she was applying for a position within Monarch. Perhaps, if that was even true, he could put in a word on her behalf. If they were going to officially be family, then it couldn't hurt, he supposed.

* * *

 _Several hours later…_

Grey yawned as he stretched, shaking the sleep from his limbs. He checked the time and realized that the trip to the bar was pretty soon, but he still had time to freshen up a bit. He took a quick shower and threw on some of his more casual clothes: A basic grey T-shirt with no logos on it, a green sweater and jeans. He was about to leave when his phone buzzed. He checked it to find a message that read "check your watch."

So, he did. Immediately, the face of the watch began to glow a faint blue before a voice emanated from the watch.

" _Sorry it took so long, but Rose and the others were demanding my attention."_

Grey smiled a little.

"Nice to see you too, Ion. So, how are they doing? Are they speaking yet? I assume they are at least not attacking everything on sight."

" _No spoken words yet, but Rose has become very fluent in sign language. And yes, they are no longer retreating to cover or trying to violently murder anyone who comes too close. Actually, once this wedding is over, me and one of the doctors were considering bringing you in to help once or twice. After all, you did well with Simon, Barry and Riya."_

"Yeah, but that mainly extended to me providing food. We already tried that and I walked out of there half paralyzed, bleeding and bruised. And they hated me even more after that." Grey reminded Ion.

" _That was eight months ago. I'm sure that they'll be far less murderous now. Now, back to business. You wanted me here in case of cross-species attacks during the wedding reception, correct?"_ Ion continued. Grey nodded, though he knew that Ion couldn't see the motion.

"Yeah. To help operate the gauntlets and contact Monarch to help catch it and ship it out. Oh, and guess who happens to be on the guest list."

" _If it's a relative of Rothstein's, can I ruin them?"_ Ion asked? Grey rolled his eyes.

"No, it is not a relative of Rothstein's. It's Camilla from last year. Though, if we ever do come across any relatives of Rothstein's, check to see if they're worth ruining."

" _Will do. So to recap, you basically want an extra set of eyes and ears for if things go south, since the reception site has had multiple cross-species sighted and captured in the general area. Does that about cover everything?"_

"I'd say so, yes. Oh, and I'm going down to the bar tonight. I don't think I'll actually have anything, but if I don't go, I'll be bugged about it later. So, I'm going. Maybe try to make sure that, on the off chance I do get tipsy, I don't do anything stupid."

" _I don't think that'll be a problem. Remember the last time you were drinking? Seriously, that stuff was strong and you barely felt it!"_

"Hey, there's a first time for everything. Talk to you later."

Grey made his way downstairs to the hotel bar, where George and the rest of his invitees were already heading inside. He hurried over and joined them as they made their way to the barstools and took a seat at the end, next to one of George's friends. He didn't remember his name and wasn't reintroduced, so he just ordered a light beer. Even if he was much more tolerant of alcohol than the average person, he didn't feel like going for something with a bit more… bite.

Of course, as the night went on the other guys decided to end the night with a drinking contest. And Grey was inevitably roped into it. The bartender looked a bit concerned by the amount of beer he was about to lose, but didn't voice any objections. Grey felt a bit of sympathy for him, but mainly just felt annoyed he'd been dragged into another contest.

"At least this isn't scorpions." He muttered under his breath as the first glass was placed in front of him. The game went on for a little while, but soon three of them were too wasted to continue. Grey was downing his sixth glass and didn't feel the slightest bit buzzed. Soon enough, it was just him and one George's really big friends. He was about 6.2 and had a very stocky build, with very short, dirty blond hair. They drank four more glasses each before Grey finally started to feel buzzed. His opponent on the other hand, was talking very with a very slurred voice and teetering on his stool. Eventually he fell forwards, completely knocked out. The others were staggering slightly, and took a few seconds to begin cheering for Grey, who just looked vaguely irritated. Taking a look around, he came to the conclusion that it was about time to wrap this little escapade up, and called the front desk to get some help with hauling all of the plastered men back to their rooms. It took some time, since the ones who weren't unconscious or looked ready to vomit were staggering left and right. After getting everyone back to their rooms and making sure they weren't about to vomit all over the rooms (the majority being escorted to the bathrooms by other wedding guests Grey conscripted before helping everyone upstairs) Grey finally got back to his room for some rest. Soon this would all be over and he could get back to Monarch.

* * *

 _Day of the reception, five minutes after pronouncement of official marriage…_

Grey was practically counting the seconds until he could go back to the hotel. The whole ceremony had been wonderful to attend, make no mistake, but the dinner afterwards had been a nightmare. He'd been forced to sit at the same table as George's sisters and they hadn't stopped steering the conversation back to Grey's life since his abduction and subjection to experimentation. It was starting to get rather tiresome, especially since most of it was about his job at Monarch, what he knew about Monarch, potential secrets about Monarch, what Monarch did with captured cross-species, what his wages there were like, and other things that gave off the immediate impression that they were put up to this by his uncle, who thought that the reception day would be the best time to start grilling him about Monarch. Aside from Monarch, they had bugged him about if he really could turn his skin to scales and hands to claws, if cross-species science would become more common in the future, and other stuff that was rather insufferable to be inquired about. Especially come from them. Still, he played along enough to not tell them to shut up about his abilities or Monarch. Instead, he gave them corporate talk and "I'm not at liberty to disclose that information" and other excuses. At one point, one of them felt something touch their leg and the jerked away and looked down before letting out a shriek! Grey was sitting in the adjacent seat and reached down to grab the offending creature, which turned out to be a garter snake. After assuring them that it was completely harmless, he set it down and it continued in the direction of the snake pit he had mentioned before. After that little scare, they offered to get him a drink. Now they weren't even trying!

He excused himself under the pretence of going to the buffet table, but really just to get away from them. He wandered around the tables, idly chatting with other people who were wandering about, making sure to avoid Camilla per her wishes, and just generally dodging his uncle and cousins, sans George of course. The sun was starting to dip low on the horizon, casting the sky with a yellow-red color. Several torches were lit around the wedding setup, as well as a good-sized bonfire off to the side. It was at this point, they decided to begin the dance. And this is when things went very, very wrong.

Grey was watching from a little ways back as the couples, friends new and old, and the newly weds danced on the dance floor that had been put together, when he heard the trees shaking and heard a few cries from the crowd. Looking down, he saw a few garter snakes darting by, rather quick for their usual speed. They were all heading in the same direction. He looked and saw something barreling out of the trees! And it was truly hideous.

What now stood before the horrified wedding-goers was what could only be described as Phobius Maximus. It was a garter snake with a combination jaw of a spider and snake, six eyes and eight spider limbs. Oh, and the monstrosity was also fifteen feet long, with legs about three and a half-feet long. Grey just groaned and reached into his suit to pull the gauntlets and an earpiece out of pockets that had been sewn inside of said suit. After Grey had them unfolded, he shed the coat of his suit, as well as the watch that Ion was currently inhabiting and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt before snapping the gauntlets into place. He tilted his neck from side to side, feeling a satisfying crack as he did so. He touched a finger to the earpiece.

"Ion, could you…"

" _Already on it. Oh, and I contacted the local authorities to help with the evacuation. Not to mention I've got a camera drone inbound to gather footage for your uncle, so he'll be… whatever qualifies as pleased to him. Seriously, I checked some of the security cameras and I've never seen him smile. Ever. Did he smile tonight? It's his son's wedding, he must have."_ Ion chattered.

"Ion, focus, please? And I wasn't looking. Now, any suggestions for this horror movie reject?" Grey asked as he slowly circled the creature, which was sputtering and hissing at nothing in particular. It did some sidestepping on it's eight limbs, but seemed rather uncoordinated.

" _Well, snakes are drawn to heat, so I imagine that when everything cooled off, it got attracted to the bonfire. Maybe try distracting it with a torch or some other source of heat. Or try to find a way to cool it off. That'll slow it down. Oh, and regarding your comment earlier on focusing? I literally think so fast that I can muse on a tangent thought while offering solutions on the uninvited guest."_

"Maybe, but it's really distracting! Okay, distract with heat, or cool it off… Hey George, is there any ice around?!"

George was helping to evacuate his guests when Grey shouted at him regarding ice. He pointed to several nearby coolers, which contained half-melted ice. The summer heat had turned a good portion of it to water, but it could still be useful. For now, Grey tried to keep himself between Phobius Maximus and the fleeing guests. The snake-spider hissed at him and scurried forward on its horrid legs, snapping its jaws as it approached. Grey braced and brought back his arm, charging up a blast in the corresponding gauntlet. Once it was close enough, Grey brought his fist around in an uppercut, unleashing a blast of thermos-nuclear energy when his fist connected! Phobius hurtled through the air and slammed into one of the tables, sending leftover food flying! It flailed on its back before righting itself and glaring back at Grey before flipping its tail over its head like a scorpion to reveal what looked like a spider's abdomen on the end of its tail! A line of silk erupted from Phobius Maximus' rear, snagging on Grey's arm! The snake-spider yanked Grey forward with surprising strength and charged forward, determined to maul him! Grey's free hand became clawed and he slashed himself free before sucker-punching the snake-spider in the face before seizing it by its spider mandibles and heaving it over his head to slam it into the buffet table! His face broke into a grin when he saw the nearby coolers and leapt over to one. Or, at least he tried. He'd barely left the ground when the snake-spider's flailing tail swung around to collide with his face, sending him flying in the exact opposite direction of where he wanted to go. He stood up and rubbed his head, feeling a bruise coming on. It would probably start fading before it finished forming. Grey turned to see Phobius had righted itself again and was now charging him again. Grey snarled and his eyes turned reptilian as he charged up twin blasts in his gauntlets. He waited until the snake-spider was close enough and reared back both of his fists before bringing them around again for a pair of simultaneous concussive blasts that sent the snake-spider hurtling into the coolers and spilling the ice-water and non-melted ice all over the snake-spider. The creature let out a shriek of desperation as it scrambled to it's feet. It looked up to see Grey hurtling through the air with his fist drawn back for one hell of a haymaker. The blow connected and set the snake-spider skidding across the earth, ripping up dirt as it went. And it lay still, completely unconscious. Grey began searching around and found some spare cord that had been used for hanging the frilly wedding decorations. After making sure that Phobius Maximus was really unconscious, he hogtied it and waited for Monarch to show up. In the meantime, he had to put up with the looks of disbelief from what few wedding guests hadn't fled back to the hotel.

"Of all the days this could possibly have happened, am I right?"

* * *

 _The next day…_

Grey finished packing his bags and was just stepping out the door when he saw his entire extended family at the other end of the hall. Grey could imagine what they wanted to talk about.

Soon enough, they were all seated at a conference table. Grey still couldn't believe that the hotel even had a conference table! They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes before Grey's uncle cleared his throat.

"I believe that we have all avoided a real, in-depth conversation with you regarding your new job." His uncle began.

"Well, my whole life since two years ago, but that was with some serious effort on my part." Grey casually remarked. His uncle's eyes tightened.

"Yes. However, given yesterday evenings events, I don't think we can avoid it anymore. Grey, would you care to explain everything from the beginning?" His uncle requested. Grey rubbed his hands over his face and sighed before nodding.

"Okay. Fair warning, you WILL leave here with a headache. Fair warning."

And so, Grey told them everything. The abduction, the experimentation, what little he could remember from his escape, going on the run, falling in with Monarch, the invasion by E.V.O, the counterattack, everything with Biollante and their humanoid counterparts that he could legally share, what he could tell them that they didn't know about the worldwide epidemic from a year ago, to his new side job of cross-species containment.

After everything was explained, he answered a few more questions (The ones he could legally answer) offered his condolences regarding the interruption from the previous day, and bid farewell. On the way out of the hotel, he happened across Camilla checking out of the hotel.

"Hey, can I talk to you quickly?" He asked. Camilla turned around, her expression rather annoyed.

"Make it quick, please. I don't want to miss my flight." She responded in a bit of a clipped tone. Grey nodded.

"Alright, I'll keep it quick. Look, I just wanted to apologize for the rough start to your career, and my roll in that. Plus, the nightmare of those trials and everything."

"The apology is appreciated, but that doesn't exactly help me find new work." She muttered. Grey held up a finger.

"I'm not done yet. I heard you had applied, or were considering applying to Monarch, so I put in a word for you. 'Thought you could use a win when all is said and done." Grey informed her, grinning at the sight of her jaw dropping.

"You're kidding." She challenged.

"Nope. If you're still interested, I'd apply soon. Recommendations don't last forever."

With that, Grey checked out of the hotel and stepped outside to see his car waiting for him. He set the destination into the SATNAV and drove off, a grin still hung on his face. Maybe the wedding hadn't been all that bad after all.

* * *

 **PRAISE BE, FOR THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER IN THIS STORY!**

 **Creativity: No kidding! This took a lot longer than expected!**

 **Author: I really wanted to do the wedding thing with the annoying relatives for a while, and I'm really happy with the finished product. I hope you all enjoy. It's 1 in the morning as I'm finishing this, so my brain be ready to shut down. Well, I hope you all enjoyed our Summer Specials of 2018! Perhaps well do a follow-up next year, but probably not.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, looking at the schedule, that probably won't happen.**

 **Author: Well, we'll see. In the meantime, enjoy summer and we'll see you when we return for Season 3 of A Very Bad Idea!**


	39. Two years later

**Well, here we are again. Welcome back everyone, to A Very Bad Idea. With the outline properly hashed out and established, I am more than prepared to present the beginning of the end.**

 **Creativity: It's strange to think this is ending soon. The story will be almost two years old once this is finished.**

 **Author: Don't get all teary eyed just yet. We have work to do.**

 **The other projects waiting in the wings are coming along rather nicely. There's two in particular that I'm excited to present to all of you, but it'll be some time before they're ready for the public eye. Keep your eyes peeled for them, though!**

 **Creativity: What about that Dragons story we published not too long ago?**

 **Author: That one's on the backburner for now. I got a few chapters ready for it, but I'd rather just release them all at once and I want to build up a larger amount before doing so. It's not ditched yet though, so don't worry! I've got plans for it. Strange and fantastic plans…**

 **Well, with that out of the way, let us present the first chapter of A Very Bad Idea season 3! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Keep it up!"

Grey was tearing his way through an obstacle course with a pack of varied cross-species following behind him. They were all in their mid to late teens, making them one of the oldest groups he helped instruct. The obstacle course was tailored for no single attribute, making it unnecessary for them to be separated based on being able to fly, climb or anything that required specific or specialized training. Today, the exercise was simple. Catch Grey before he completed three laps of the obstacle course. Some basic rules included that you couldn't stop and wait for him to come around, and you couldn't cut around the course.

Grey saw a large barrier up ahead and leapt clean up to the top before turning to get a better look at his pursuers.

The group was actually a tight-knit group of friends. They had been one of Grey's first groups to train in the two years he'd been doing providing what passed for instruction these days. Realistically, the only reason he had this job was because he was among the first cross-species to exist and thus had more experience with dealing with them as an equal than anyone else. Besides, who was going to qualify to teach someone how to fly with wings for arms?

The group was composed of two boys and two girls. The boys were named Gordon and Conrad. Both were cross-species with different species of bear. Gordon was a black bear cross-species, stood 6 feet tall and was the eldest of the group at nineteen years old. He had black hair that had been blond up until he was mutated and blue eyes. He had patches of thick black fur on his body and his ears had become that of a black bear. Additionally, he also had bear claws on his hands, making him an excellent climber. He was incredibly strong and his claws made him a nightmare in hand-to-hand combat. In the training exercise, he would often let those who couldn't climb cling to his back while he effortlessly hauled himself and his passenger over climbing obstacles.

The second eldest was Conrad, who was a polar bear cross-species. He was eighteen years old, stood 5'9, had brown eyes and was covered in thick, white fur. His room was incredibly air conditioned to keep him comfortable with his thick fur, as he was oddly adverse to just shaving all of it off. He had a keen sense of smell and incredible strength. He was also a powerful swimmer and could swim in even the coldest temperatures. He was exceptionally good friends with Gordon, though the two were also very competitive. He was also rather protective of his younger peers, often volunteering for outings with much younger cross-species. Despite his friendly, cheerful demeanor, he was rather intimidating. Especially with his fur.

Next up was Emily. Emily was a snow-leopard cross-species. She was sixteen years old, stood 5'5 and shoulder-length black hair. Like Conrad, she was covered from head-to-toe in spotted fur, but also had green feline eyes, claws and a tail. She was by far the most comfortable and well adjusted with her mutation of the group, and had no problems walking around in public trying to go unnoticed. She had a surprisingly large number of friends, on and off campus. However, she also harbored a harsh anger towards people who mocked or insulted any cross-species for being a cross-species. She was rarely allowed to go anywhere alone for fear she would do something rash that would trigger legal reprisal against her or Monarch.

Lastly, there was Melanie. Melanie was a timber wolf cross-species. She was sixteen years old, stood 5'3. She also had thick fur, black/grey hair that used to be red, full-on wolf ears, a tail and more wolf-like teeth. Despite her rather fierce outward appearance, Melanie was a very shy and withdrawn, even among her circle of friends. She didn't often go out in public without her friends and often dressed in baggy pants and a sweater to avoid being noticed when she did. Grey remembered a time when he'd been visiting downtown Ontario and ran across the group on an outing of their own. Conrad had gone off to grab something to eat and Gordon was locating a washroom, leaving Emily and Melanie to save an outdoor able at a nearby café. A couple of guys approached and started flirting rather outrageously with them, making Emily very annoyed (And half ready to sharpen her claws on them) while Melanie looked like she was trying to sink through the floor and never return. Grey was about to step in, since the two guys didn't seem to get that their advances were not welcome in the slightest, when Conrad returned with his food. It had been a joy to watch the two guys realize that Conrad was about ready to punt them into a nearby garbage can. Grey had seen some pretty quick individuals (there were some ridiculously quick cross-species he had to instruct) but he still couldn't believe how quick those two had booked it. However, Melanie just took the event as an excuse to leave campus even less.

However, when she was in a training exercise like this, it was like she was a completely different person. She was laser focused on the objective of the exercise, which meant catching Grey. She was by far the fasted of her group, but not a very good climber. She usually relied on Gordon or Conrad to help her with climbing obstacles. Speaking of which, they were getting rather close to the top of the climbing wall. Grey hopped to the bottom and set off at a run. He rounded a corner and came to a pool of water, which he immediately dove into. He heard someone else impact the water and knew who it was immediately. He turned to see Melanie hot on his tail, followed closely by Conrad. Reaching the end of the pool, Grey dove to the bottom and leapt out in a spray of water before taking off at a run again. Conrad may be the most powerful swimmer within the group, but Grey still outclassed him. Now running and climbing, that was a different story altogether.

He started running again, but he didn't have the lead he needed. Soon enough, he could hear the rapid approach of a cross-species before he felt a tag on his shoulder. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was. The wet fur smell was all he needed.

"Alright, good job! You beat your previous best on this course!" Grey informed them, looking at the clock. It was actually by an impressive margin of five seconds. The group looked pretty proud.

"I think that's enough for today. Also, I would recommend going to the sauna for a bit." Grey suggested. The group didn't complain. Instead, they all made their way to the aforementioned sauna to dry off from the pool before taking the rest of the day for themselves. Grey didn't have any other groups today, but Sabrina was visiting to help instruct some of the fliers and he wanted to check in on the session. As it turned out, she was pretty good at helping them figure out how to hover, glide and change direction. Thus, she was in rather high demand as a 'guest instructor' for lack of a better term. Grey did a fair bit of traveling as well, but not quite as much as Sabrina was getting roped into. She was travelling almost as much as Grey had in the early days of his career as the international representative of cross-species.

Grey made his way to one of the other gyms and found Sabrina in the middle of supervising a 'drag race' of sorts. The racers were all lined up on an elevated platform, waiting for Sabrina's signal. Sabrina raised her hand up into the air before swiping it down! Immediately, the racers dove off the platform and flared their wings, going from a dive into a glide. The gliders raced to the end of the room, where Sabrina judged who the winner was. Once the winner crossed the finish line, Grey provided some polite applause, prompting everyone to take notice. It seemed that Grey had just caught the last couple minutes of the session, since everyone begun grabbing their things to leave. Sabrina jogged over lightly cuffing him in the shoulder.

"So, how'd your class go?" Sabrina asked as they left the gym. Grey shrugged.

"It was teamwork exercises today. Took groups in turns and had them running a cooperative obstacle course. Nothing out of the ordinary." Grey answered as they made their way to the cafeteria to grab some lunch. Along the way, Sabrina shared a few stories from the other campuses. Nothing too destructive, but a few funny stories. There was one story with extra spicy hot wings and a bird cross-species, but the story was cut short when they were called to the main office of the Campus' overseer. When they got there, the overseer told them that someone else was there to see them and promptly left the room. The projector lit up, displaying a holographic image of a woman in a smart business suit.

"Ion. This must be important." Grey noted.

" _Actually, it isn't just me."_ Ion responded. The window Ion was displayed in shrunk and moved off to the side while a larger window appeared, displaying Dr. Graham.

"Okay, this must REALLY be important." Sabrina muttered.

" _We've received word that there's been a potential Rothstein spotting."_ Graham began. Grey leaned forward with sudden interest. Rothstein had gone underground for two years, with no one seeing hide or hair of him. Coupled with their inability to track down even one E.V.O base, even with Ion's assistance, and they were starting to wonder if he'd ever be found.

So, the fact that there had even been a potential sighting was news.

" _He was spotted in the Caribbean if the information is accurate. We dispatched three teams already based there to try and confirm if it is him. However, he could just as easily disappear again. Wherever he's been these past two years, it's kept him out of public."_ Graham continued before Ion cut in.

" _E.V.O did keep several safehouses for their higher-ranking members. However, half the time they were used as staging grounds for assassinations. It's most commonly contributed to in-fighting, but Rothstein's been a part of E.V.O long enough to have made a few enemies. Though, I doubt he's dead. Even if this sighting is false, I do not believe that Rothstein would be so careless as to walk into a trap like that. I'll keep searching for leads on Rothstein through familial connections, assuming he has any left. In the meantime, be ready for a phone call."_ Ion concluded. Grey and Sabrina both nodded before the screen shut down and they left the office. The overseer hurried back inside to get back to work while Grey and Sabrina wandered the Campus, discussing the whole Rothstein situation. Neither of them had thought about it much for a while, since he had vanished from the face of the earth over two years ago. It did beg a million-dollar question: what had he been doing all this time?

* * *

Rothstein's brow was furrowed with concentration. He was maneuvering one of E.V.O's personal submarines through the waters of the Caribbean, heading towards the second vault he had discovered. Yorburg's encryptions had been clever to be sure. He'd been forced to steal one of the more intelligent AI that E.V.O used for maintaining conditions for their more long-term projects and put it to work on decoding the rest of the coordinates. Over the course of two years, it had finally decoded enough of the encryption to extract 2 sets of coordinates. He'd begun his search in the Caribbean as he was aware that Yorburg had payed it a visit to it before they had tried that disastrous attack on the USA three years ago.

Rothstein had been working like a maniac these last two years. Aside from decoding the remaining locations for Yorburg's vaults, he'd also been acquiring the equipment he'd need for his expeditions, covering his tracks, using a modified variant of the Genetic Architect technology to manufacture a synthetic version of Yorburg's pre-mutation blood to unlock every vault, and searching for the individual that had beaten him to the first vault. He already knew who it was, but they were almost as good as him at vanishing acts. Almost.

Of course, they didn't have to worry about public visibility as according to international records, they didn't exist as someone to be watched. Rothstein only knew about them by pure chance, and a bit of misplaced trust on Yorburg's part. Unfortunately, he couldn't use that as leverage. For one, they were even more crazy than Yorburg. Any attempt at blackmail would be signing his death warrant. Second, they would know who was attempting to blackmail them and gain an ally in E.V.O or Monarch. Or both, if they were very careful about it.

No, that wouldn't work. For now, Rothstein would just have to deal with a competitor for Yorburg's vaults. And the fact that they beat him to the first one two years ago meant he had some catching up to do. Hopefully, they didn't have the rest of the coordinates.

What was he thinking? Yorburg wouldn't entrust that sort of knowledge to anyone without a fight. Rothstein was using top-of-the-line equipment and it had taken him two years. His opponent had resources to be sure, but they couldn't expose themselves to E.V.O for equipment, meaning they had to acquire lower-grade equipment, or go REALLY deep into the criminal underworld for stolen goods for the time being. Though Rothstein surely had the equipment advantage, his opponent had the ghost of Yorburg to aid them. So, this race was definitely far from won.

Rothstein realized that the vault's location was approaching and maneuvered the submarine to the docking station of the vault's hidden location. After making sure that everything was secure, Rothstein stepped out of the submarine and deployed three self-flying scout drones to keep an eye forward and backward. He also withdrew his thermo-nuclear pistol as a safety precaution.

This was an old E.V.O facility that had been abandoned in the early 2000s. The decades had not been kind to it. Dust clung to every surface and he could see wear and tear from lack of maintenance. Then something caught his eye. He looked down at the floor and notice that the dust had been disturbed. It had begun to settle again, but it was definitely a trail. Rothstein cursed as he broke into a run, following the faint trail until he reached an old, decrepit laboratory. The hidden panel that Yorburg had hid the vault in was swung open and the vault was missing. Rothstein cursed and shouted before turning around and storming back to the submarine. He needed to get to the next location soon, otherwise he'd be behind by three vaults!

* * *

While Rothstein was storming away from his latest lost prize, a short, scrawny figure with pale skin, blond hair and blue eyes arrived at an oceanside modern megahouse in a specialized submarine-speedboat hybrid. They opened the hatch of the boat and stepped into the sunlight, wincing and covering their eyes as they hurried up the steps of a dock, heading up to the house. He was carrying a large case beside him like luggage. He stepped inside the house and made dimmed the curtains so no one could see inside before heading into the basement of the house. Inside was somewhere between a computer-enthusiast's dream and the ultimate auto-shop. The figure effortlessly lifted the vault onto a large table and pressed a few buttons on a keypad before pressing each of his fingers to a flashing light. They winced as small needles pricked each of their fingers and they felt the blood being sucked out of them like a straw. Soon the needles retracted and the figure wiped their fingers on a nearby towel that had been left for this exact purpose. The vault hissed and chilled mist escaped as it swung open, revealing several formulae and blueprints for a few machines. The figure removed them carefully and placed them aside. Despite the fact that they were of no interest to him at the moment, they were still incredible work that he was now in possession of. No, they were after something else that lay inside the vault. Data.

The figure reached into the vault and grabbed a section of it before giving it a good yank. Removed from the vault was a memory stick that contained exactly what they were looking for. Carrying it over to a computer, the figure tapped the memory stick to the computer, causing it to immediately transmit all of its data. They selected on file in particular and checked it. It began revealing a set of coordinates to the next vault, as well as a few fragments of a second set of coordinates. Two pieces down. Two to go.

The figure transferred the coordinates to their phone with a tap and opened another file. A recorded message.

The window displayed the face of Yorburg, paused just as he had finished a rant. The figure pressed play and the video restarted.

" _Hello, Augustus. If you are seeing this, then I have unfortunately lost my life in a failed attempt to begin the conquest E.V.O envisioned for the world. No doubt, due to the Directors not heeding my advice on troops, weaponry and tactics. Regardless, I created a contingency plan for vengeance against E.V.O, Monarch and that infernal test subject that ruined everything! I have hidden vaults all over the world that contain all of my knowledge, plans, blueprints, formulae, everything. Specifically, they contain coordinates to where I have stored my contingency plans. Unfortunately, I must ask that you wait some time as the plan does require some time to complete on its own, but I did instill patience in you, did I not? So, I must ask you to claim vengeance in my name. Find the vaults, unleash my greatest creation and bring E.V.O, Monarch and that blasted failure to their knees! Burn them all! BURN THE WORLD FOR THEIR SLIGHTS AGAINST ME! KILL THEM ALL! DES…"_

The recording ended and the figure, now known as Augustus nodded.

"OF course, uncle. We will have our vengeance."

 **Well, not a bad return if I do say so myself! I've been planning on introducing Augustus Yorburg for a while, but it took a little longer than expected. I can already feel it, this season is gonna be AWESOME!**

 **Creativity: No kidding! And the monster we're building up to…**

 **Author: No spoilers! Though I will say it was teased a bit in season 1. I hope you all enjoy as we continue onward into season 3 of A Really Bad Idea!**


	40. Enter Artemis

**/Post Completion Edit/**

 **Sorry this took so long to upload, but was misbehaving.**

 **We now return to your regularly scheduled chapter.**

* * *

 **Good day to you all, I hope you are all well!**

 **So, by the time this publishes, we will be approaching exam season (Not that it matters, because this is all prewritten many chapters before college ever resumed) so I hope all of you who are also in exam season are studying hard and preparing for the big test.**

 **Creativity: I suppose that's a better use of their time, but why would they be reading this instead of studying?**

 **Author: Hey, taking a break is overall beneficial for the studious brain! Just don't spend more time on break than you do studying… like me sometimes…**

 **So, we may take a mid-season break to ensure that the backlog is topped off, should the need for that arise, but I'm not positive at the moment. I'm trucking along with this story at a pretty good pace, so I think I'll have ten chapters done by the time college resumes, so if I keep writing at a slightly reduced pace, I should be almost done by the time exam season starts. Hell, if I write more than two chapters a week, I'll be done entirely! If that happens, I'll have started publishing early and the beginning of this opening AN will be rendered null and void… Maybe I'll just stick to the original release regardless.**

 **Alright, I think the AN has gone on long enough. I present to you all, chapter 35!**

* * *

Grey tapped his foot a bit nervously. The last time he'd tried this, it hadn't gone very well. In fact, it had gone disastrously. Still, Ion insisted that it was going to work now. He'd watched a few sessions and seen that by and large, everything was safe. Still, he was a little on edge. It wasn't entirely unfounded, but he had to admit that he was being unrealistically cautious about this.

" _Seriously, she's practically harmless now! You could probably walk in there and have a picnic with her!"_ Ion exclaimed impatiently. Grey rolled his eyes.

"That would be moving a bit too fast, wouldn't you think? Just open the door." Grey shot back. The door opened into a what looked like an indoor garden and Grey walked in cautiously. Every one of his senses was in overdrive. He noticed movement to his left and tensed. He could see what looked like a matt of green leaves peaking from behind a bush. There were a few flowers, roses in bloom, growing at points in the matt. Anyone else might have ignored it, but Grey knew what to look for. Just below the matt was a pair of green eyes. Instead of trying to approach, Grey simply turned right and walked towards a bench that sat near an artificial stream. They'd tried to recreate an environment that would be familiar and comfortable to the resident, who's eyes still had not left him since he walked in. Fighting the urge to turn his head, Grey sat down on the bench and forced himself to relax his posture. She would certainly be able to tell if he was wound like a coiled spring, ready to snap forward at a moments notice.

He saw further motion, moving towards his right. He resisted the urge to look. At an agonizingly slow pace, Biollante's humanoid sister; Rose, emerged from the foliage, cautiously approaching, though her body was turned to bolt at the slightest sign of danger.

"I'm not gonna bite, you know." Grey lightly teased, keeping his voice down. Rose had frozen the moment he started talking and looked to be fighting every urge to backpedal back into the foliage.

"We… fought, didn't we?" She said slowly, like she was carefully going over each word to make sure she didn't mispronounce any of them.

"A little over two years ago, yeah. You weren't in your right mind, I was in the way. No hard feelings?" Grey asked. Rose seemed unsure of how to respond. She also looked like she was expecting him to suddenly draw his claws and spring at her. After a minute or two, she relaxed a bit and nodded.

"No hard feelings." She repeated. The words seemed to come easier to her. Now that she had relaxed more, Grey could see that she had aged a bit in the two years since they first encountered. It was subtle, but it was definitely there. It was also a bit interesting, since Grey hadn't aged a day since he was mutated three years ago. It felt strange to be walking around in a teenager's body when he was legally an adult. And a bit frustrating.

It was a bit fascinating to him to see another cross-species who had been spliced with Godzilla's DNA who was showing signs of age, if incredibly decelerated. Though he supposed it made some sense. She wasn't a cross-species the same way he and the rest were. She'd been born into it, while Grey and the others had started off human. That mean different rules. Plus, her rose DNA could have something to do with it as well.

Eventually, Rose took a seat by the stream, her toes almost touching the water.

"Everything was… foggy for a while. I was afraid all the time." Rose said in a hushed tone. It would have been easy to miss if Grey hadn't been paying very close attention.

"After your… episode two years ago, fear would be a natural response to a lot of things. Why are you telling me this?" Grey responded. Rose didn't visibly react to his question. It was a few moments before she responded.

"I remember you and others coming in here. I remember being afraid and trying to make you go away. Why did you keep coming back?" She asked. Grey's gaze turned to the stream.

"Well, you're one of us. Why shouldn't I try to help? Especially of they're afraid. Not that you didn't make it difficult." Grey quipped at the end. Rose seemed to tense up at the attempted joke, so he kept quiet. Eventually she relaxed again. Things were going much better than he expected.

"Where are they?" Rose suddenly asked after a few minutes.

"They… who?" Grey asked back, though he could hazard a couple guesses.

"The others. The one's like me." Rose clarified. That helped to narrow it down, but Grey decided to be extra sure.

"Do you mean the ones like both of us, or like you specifically?" Grey continued.

"The ones like me." She answered, a hint of impatience in her voice.

"We have four of them here, aside from you. They've been… difficult, so we figured we'd work with you all one at a time, maybe get your help with them. The other two were too violent to help, so we moved them to the same island that Biollante's living on right now." Grey answered. They kept tabs on the island, so they knew that both the cross-species and Biollante were fine. They'd been worried that Biollante would go on another rampage, but it seemed that it was content to stay on the island.

"Bio…" Rose started, seemingly struggling with the words.

"Biollante is a… I suppose 'relative' is the best word. You both came from the same place, though you are very, very different from one another."

Rose hunched her shoulders a bit.

"I remember… I think she was looking for me. I remember being… asleep. There was a voice that always whispered to me. It was always there. Then it wasn't. I remember being scared when it wasn't." Rose murmured. Grey tilted his head to one side. They hadn't considered the possibility that Biollante had gone to Neo Gen specifically to find Rose and the others like her.

"Well, she's okay so far. She took a really beating from Godzilla when she arrived on land, but it doesn't seem to have left any lasting damage. If you want to, we could arrange…"

Grey was interrupted by Ion over the intercom.

" _Grey, I'm sorry to interrupt but we have a crisis in progress!"_ Ion announced. Grey resisted the urge to curse as he rose from his seat and hurried out the door.

"We'll have to continue this later! Sorry about this!" He called over his shoulder as Rose watched in shock as he rushed out the door. Her face then became one of depression.

" _He didn't want to leave yet."_ Ion reassured her over the intercom. It was the practically only communication Rose had experienced for the better part of two years, so it wasn't a shock to her.

" _He's just needs to go help some people."_ Ion finished. Rose seemed to be less put out, though she still seemed a bit disappointed.

* * *

Meanwhile. Grey was clamouring into one of Monarch's response helicopters and slipped into a secluded room inside to pull on his suit. This new one was lighter, but provided the same protection against bullets, thermonuclear energy, explosions of all kinds, as well as improved regulation of ionizing radiation. The suit itself was made of black material that had extremely small grey hexagons all over it. There were several transparent lines that ran along the outside of the suit that glowed electric blue with radiation. His gauntlets were also new. While still roughly the same size, they were much sleeker and had multiple modes of fire, ranging from concentrated stream to single blast, a short-range burst, even an 'impact beam' as Ion described. The impact beam was relatively new. It was a single charged blast that fired a beam of energy that compressed the power of a maintained beam into one blast. It was rather taxing on the gauntlets and could lead to overheating if charged too long, but it was one of Grey's personal favourites.

A few other special upgrades included new miniaturized nuclear reactors that could be used to provide the blasts with a little more kick.

Aside from that, the headset had also been upgraded, making it much slimmer and unobtrusive when not in use. They'd also streamlined the HUD and made it more compatible with Ion, allowing her to make analyses, switch fire modes and adjust settings on the fly with unparalleled speed and precision. Unfortunately, Ion wasn't tagging along for this outing. Thus, he'd have to make those adjustments manually. It wasn't that time consuming, but moments mattered if things got too dicey.

"So Ion, what catastrophe do you having me going to today?"

" _Cross-species. Wolverine crossed with a praying mantis (of all things). It's about the size of a large van, and is suspected of being transported illegally."_ Ion reported smartly over comms. Grey groaned.

"Another wolverine?! It's like the universe has made me its scratching post! Please tell me Monarch's getting the equipment scrambled." Grey complained. He could swear that Ion was resisting the urge to laugh at him.

" _It's being prepared as we speak. You were just the closest responder, so I opted to send you to soften it up a bit. Oh, and be glad it wasn't another Alaska mission._ _We're still not sure where that, 'overgrown dirt muncher' I believe you called it, went."_ Ion remarked, prompting another groan from Grey.

"Thanks for reminding me. How can something that big get around without being noticed or shaking the ground even a little?!" Grey continued to complain before he realized they were nearing the sight of the rampage. Things looked pretty bad. There were multiple fires, streets were torn up, cars were overturned and the cause of it was currently ripping a motorcycle apart with its front appendages.

Once the copter was low enough, Grey leapt from the vehicle to the ground and got a good look at his target. Like Ion had said, it was primarily a wolverine, but you could see very obvious praying mantis traits. For one, the thing had six legs. The rear and middle sets were of a wolverine, but it had two praying mantis arms in front, which looked like some bizarre mix of a vice grip and a band saw. Or perhaps a pair of crocodile jaws for arms. Aside from that, it had patchy fur, twin antennae, two wolverine eyes, insectoid wings and a third eye on top of its head (Yes, mantids do have this. It's really weird). In addition to this, it's jaw had four hinges. It reminded grey of those paper fortune-tellers that he and his friends would make when they were six or so.

The cross-species howled at him, making a weird, warbling sound before it slammed its mantis arms into the ground and charged, arms outstretched to crush him. Grey switched to the impact beam and charged up two lower-level charges before firing them at the creature consecutively. The impacts caused it to stumble back, now sporting a pair of black marks from the blasts. The creature snarled and charged again, bounding towards him and using its additional front legs to help propel it even faster. Grey didn't have time to charge up another blast and instead seized a nearby overturned car and dragged it in front of him as a shield. The wolverantis slammed into the car, putting a large dent in it, but not budging it. Grey reared back and slammed his shoulder into the car. The impact sent the wolverantis hurtling away from him before scrambling to its feet and letting out its peculiar shriek before it began to circle around him, reaching out and drawing its arms as it did. Grey began circling as well, charging up another pair of blasts. The wolverantis paused for a second, snapping its quadra-hinged jaws for intimidation, then paused to see Grey's reaction. When he didn't so much as flinch, the wolverantis charged him again. Grey crouched as the wolverantis swung its limbs at him, only getting air. He then sprang up, driving his fist upwards into the wolverantis' chest and unleashing the blast as he did so, launching the creature into the air with a nasty burn where he had struck. The creature landed unceremoniously on an overturned pickup truck before rising and stumbling to the ground. It sputtered in rage before it reared back and roared as it spread its wings for intimidation. Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of automatic gunfire. Dozens of tranquilizers began materializing on the wolverantis' body before it groaned and fell forward, completely unconscious. Grey sighed with relief as he saw Monarch personnel approaching.

"About time! And make sure the restraints are extra strong! No one wants another breakout!" Grey called out as he started to make his way to the helicopter when he noticed several armored vans showing up. They all bore a strange logo on the side: An silver crescent moon logo inside a dark blue hexagon. Grey watched as the doors on the vans swung open and soldiers began pouring out. They all had the same logo emblazoned on their shoulders. They were armed with weaponry that was rather similar to Monarch's containment rifles, but there were a few noticeable differences. The mounted grenade launchers were just one of the differences. The last person to emerge wore a long, black coat, black dress shirt and dress pants instead of the militaristic gear that the others wore. He had very short blond hair and carried himself with an air of authority.

"Your service is greatly appreciated, but we'll take it from here." He announced. Grey stepped away and made his way over to the man. Along the way, he was joined by the commanding officer of the containment unit.

"You'll have to explain, because as far as I remember, Monarch is the only one with legal authority to capture and transport cross-species. As a matter of fact, its strongly suspected that this cross-species got into the city by being illegally transported through. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" The officer asked. The man in the coat didn't even flinch.

"We work for Artemis: a new organization for cross-species containment and confinement, sanctioned by the UN. They want us as the primary responder to situations such as these. Now if you would be so kind, we'll relieve you of your charge."

Grey resisted the urge to snarl at him as the officer shook his head.

"Afraid I can't do that without official word from the UN. Please bring official documents sanctioned by the UN before us and we will comply. Until then, Monarch is legally bound to maintain containment of all non-human cross-species." The officer responded calmly as the wolverantis was loaded into a transport truck and further sedated before being transported away for study. The Artemis soldiers seemed unsure of what to do before the man sighed and motioned for everyone to get into the vans and drove off. Grey let out a low growl as they left.

"If the UN really did permit those guys to come do our job behind our backs, I have more than a few words for them." Grey vowed in a low tone. He returned to the helicopter and flew to the Vancouver base to speak with Graham. If there really was a new player that had permission from the UN, that could complicate things for their capture missions.

As soon as he landed, he made his way up to Graham's office. She was busy talking to a projection of Ion when Grey knocked on the door. Graham opened the door, inviting him inside. Grey took a seat and greeted Ion before getting straight to the cause of his visit.

"You've heard about are run in with a potential problem? Apparently, they're called Artemis." Grey asked. Graham looked grim.

"We've had a few run-ins with them within the past week. We've contacted the UN to demand an explanation, even threatening to drag this to Capital Hill in front of the whole world. We're still waiting on a response, but I have a feeling that these 'Artemis' people aren't just some two-bit scam artists, trying to acquire cross-species for their own purposes. The UN has been pushing for us to be more 'open' regarding non-human cross-species affairs, though we've been dancing around them on those counts. They want to know about projects we've been working on using research we've made on the ones we can safely study and other sensitive information. Since we haven't been indulging them the way they want to be indulged, its not surprising they would create a brand-new organization to wrest some of that control away from us." Graham surmised. Grey's thinking had been along similar lines.

"Ion, have you managed to dig up anything on them?" Grey asked. Ion's holographic head nodded.

" _They're still new, but I was able to dig up some stuff on them. The ones running the show are mostly from military backgrounds, regardless of nationality. There are a few scientists who are a step under the main showrunners, mainly there to oversee the creatures they capture. However, I was able to find something on the leader. One Angela Stone, to be specific."_

And image appeared on the screen. It was from a newspaper article, detailing a celebrated chemist and her incredible breakthrough on some sort of revolutionary drug. Grey didn't really pay attention to the text, as the image of the chemist in question was being held in a side-by-side comparison of the leader of Artemis. She was a woman with a tanned complexion, grey eyes as cold and biting as steel behind a pair of slim glasses, and black hair pulled into a meticulous bun. There was actually something rather familiar about her, though Grey couldn't place his finger on it.

" _Angela Stone was a celebrated chemist that suddenly dropped from public visibility some ten years ago, only to surface now as the one calling the shots in Artemis. That almost perfectly matches up with what happened with Rothstein, though he still kept appearing in public every once and while. It's almost as if she vanished from the face of the earth for those ten years. There may be no evidence for it, but I would bet myself that she's a high-ranking individual within E.V.O."_ Ion continued.

"Keep digging on that. If we can pin the leader of Artemis as an active member of E.V.O, then that might make the UN twice about trying to push us out of the picture behind our backs." Graham ordered. Ion nodded before blinking out of existence.

"What should we do in the meantime? Artemis is going to make our lives much harder. I know it." Grey asked. Graham leaned back in her seat, rubbing her brow.

"There isn't much we can do if they are sanctioned. This is going to be a dangerous and underhanded game we're about to be caught up in. And on top of it all, we still have Rothstein to deal with, if he has indeed surfaced again. For now, just try to keep it as business as usual." Graham advised. Grey nodded.

"Alright. Business as usual."

* * *

 **That Rose bit at the beginning was harder to write than I thought. Still, I feel like I did a good job of presenting her character now that she's found her voice.**

 **Creativity: Suggestions are welcome in that regard.**

 **Author: Yeah, I find stuff like that difficult to write. Not in an emotional way, but in a 'how do I present this properly?' kind of thing.**

 **Well, that about wraps up this chapter! See you next week!**


	41. The Race Begins

**And we're back!**

 **Creativity: It feels good to be back!**

 **Author: Yes, it does.**

 **So, I recently watched Godzilla: Planet of Monsters and its direct sequel, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and I had some thoughts about it. Might make a story out of it in future, I don't know.**

 **Anyway, we're moving into the third chapter of season three now and things are going along swimmingly. I might have mentioned this before, but I'm considering doing one or two spin-off stories for A Really Bad Idea. The two main ones I have kicking around are a series about Rose (and possibly a friend or two), while the other is for an ordinary human who gets caught up in the new world I've whipped up. Thoughts on either would be appreciated.**

 **Creativity: Let us know if you're interested!**

 **Author: Now then, back to the main event. We're going to try and keep this one more 'villain-centric' this time. I always find the villains much for fun to write. Especially now that we have Yorburg's even crazier nephew in the mix. I've been waiting since the first chapter ever to get to him. That's over a year now. Thus, I got LOTS of ideas floating around in my head for what I want to do with him.**

 **Well, I think that's enough out of me! I now present chapter 36!**

* * *

Augustus grunted impatiently as he waited for an associate to arrive. He was currently seated at an outdoor café, waiting for a package to arrive. He had intended to go for the next vault, but it turned out that he required some pieces of equipment he'd initially dismissed as unimportant. Additionally, those pieces of equipment were incredibly difficult to get your hands on. He'd been contacted by an old associate of his uncle's that he had payed good money to acquire the hardware he needed, saying that he'd found what Augustus needed. Naturally, Augustus had been quick to respond and a meeting place had been set. He'd arrived a few minutes before the scheduled time, but that deadline was five minutes past. Augustus did NOT appreciate tardiness. Fortunately, his wait wasn't without reward as his associate arrived mere moments before Augustus was considering leaving. The associate was carrying a reinforced briefcase containing the items Augustus required. The man took a seat at the table and removed a pair of sunglasses from his face before tucking them into his lapel pocket.

"Sorry about being late. Traffic was a nightmare. Plus, I wanted to make sure I wasn't being tailed by anyone." The man hurriedly apologized as he lifted the case onto the table.

"Everything you asked for is in here. Take a look if you want." The man continued. Augustus spun the case around and looked inside. Indeed, everything he'd asked for was in there. He reached into his pocket and removed a black package from his coat pocket and handed it to the man before snapping the case shut and rising to his feet.

"The rest of your fee is inside. Thank you for your services." Augustus thanked promptly. He then left and went back to his current lodging. He was currently living in a penthouse previously owned by his uncle that had been left to him in his will. He'd left him basically everything. Everything except, annoyingly, the locations to the vaults that his uncle so desperately wanted him to find. However, he knew why. His uncle always tested those who he thought were worthy of his knowledge, and were rewarded for success. Augustus had been taught that very philosophy from an early age and been tested accordingly for as long as he could remember, and always succeeded. He had never failed before, to his uncle's tests or in a task he set for himself. Now, he faced his uncle's last test from beyond the grave: To exact vengeance on behalf of his deceased uncle.

Soon he had returned to the penthouse and ascended the elevator before stepping inside. It was lavishly decorated in a smart, sophisticated blend of rustic and modern styles. It was spacious, with a large seating area for entertaining guests (Not that he had any), a fully stocked chef's kitchen, two massive bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms that featured separate baths and showers (Each could comfortably fit three people), and a colossal study with an impractically large desk. It featured one of the most advanced computers on the planet and a library on a shelving unit that rotated like caterpillar treads at the push of a button, bringing the desired book to you!

And then, there was the lab/workshop. There were no windows and only a single door leading to it. The walls were reinforced with a titanium alloy and the only door was guarded behind voice, retinal and fingerprint scanning, as well as a pass-code. Inside, he had stashed the two vaults he had already retrieved and had been hoarding all the equipment he would need for his next acquisition. He'd already arranged for the necessary transportation and acquired the remaining hardware he would need to bypass the security systems that his uncle had put in place to bar any intruders who weren't worthy of its secrets.

Augustus went over his gear one more time, just as a precaution. If anything went wrong, he could easily wind up dead.

First thing was his Environment Protection suit, or E.P. suit. It looked like a sort of space suit, though it was much less bulky. It was mostly black, but had silver bands on the arms and legs and featured a nearly transparent helmet that allowed for full range of visibility and had a built in HUD for temperature and other hazards, natural or otherwise. A filtration apparatus was attached to the front, which led to a unit on the back which further cleaned any air the apparatus took in. The suit itself was also designed to shield the wearer from extreme heat to extreme cold. Tests had shown that the suit could survive in a volcano and the vacuum of space, though the wearer themselves wouldn't be able to survive the former. Additionally, the suit could withstand bullets from high-caliber rifle, but the wearer would still be left with one hell of a nasty bruise.

Aside from the suit, Augustus also had an experimental mining device, a brand new thermo-nuclear pistol, a handheld mapping/radar device and an illegal device codenamed 'codebreaker'. At first glance, one could mistake the mining device for a handheld power drill, but it was actually a high-power mechanized hammer that had the power and durability to punch through three inches of solid titanium! Additionally, this one was a variant that also sprayed explosive foam once it had punched a hole in whatever it was being used to break. The foam was specifically for targeting faults and weak points in stone and metal alike, making it excellent for breaching nigh-impregnable walls.

The pistol was much lighter and less boxy than its predecessors, but that sacrificed a small amount of power in return. However, it was practically negligible when held up to previous models. Especially so when considering the benefits of the new design.

Stylized after a revolver, the weapon used special canisters that were best described as thermo-nuclear batteries. The pistol could hold six of them (Much like a real revolver) and each battery had four charges. However, a specially designed aspect of the gun was that a piece designed to look like the hammer of the revolver actually allowed one to set multiple charges into a single shot, counting up to a maximum of four charges in a single shot. The batteries were easy enough to replace, but it wasn't recommended to carry multiple on your person as if ruptured, they would explode violently, guaranteeing the death of the user.

The mapping/radar device was simple enough. It looked like a high-tech mirror and was capable of making fully rendered 3-D maps of any structure. It also had a radar function that could track the positions of other living things within a fifty-meter radius. Extremely useful for raiding abandoned structures.

Finally, there was the codebreaker. The codebreaker was a device that one attached over a password lock of any kind and it would dismantle the system and gain you entry to wherever you were trying to break into. Incredibly useful for bypassing many of the obstacles his uncle would have placed in the vault locations and perhaps the single most illegal thing to ever exist. The number of codebreaker devices in the world could be counted on one's hand and possession of one would lead to being thrown in the deepest hole imagined and being left there. This had been by far the most difficult piece of equipment to secure, but it would be more than worth it in the long run. Especially since he could use it for bargaining in the future.

Feeling satisfied with the equipment and its functionality, he secured the workshop and went to the master bedroom to rest. Preparations were finalizing as he pulled the covers over himself. Next morning, he would take one of the many custom-built aviation machines his uncle had acquired and be on his way to the location of the next vault before lunch. Then he would begin preparing for the next vault. Perhaps this one would contain some useful designs for him to employ in his hunt for his uncle's vaults, but that was secondary to his mission of revenge. Plus, he had arranged for a surprise to keep Monarch on its toes: A little concoction to make the organization miserable, especially its pet cross-species. If he had time, he'd savor this small act of revenge when it began, but that would have to wait. There was work to do.

* * *

 _Several days later…_

Rothstein grumbled as he sat in the rundown house he was currently occupying. He detested his surroundings, but knew that he couldn't stay in five-star hotels or use off-sight E.V.O safehouses all the time, as that would lead to exponentially increasing odds of being discovered. In truth, the house was best described as rustic, but as someone who had enjoyed far better lodging all his life, Rothstein held only contempt for his surroundings.

To take his mind off things, he removed a tablet from his case of belongings and switched it on. He began perusing current events, trying to ignore all of the senseless celebrity trivia, doom singers and other such nonsense, he searched for anything that looked like what, to him, would constitute proper news. At first it seemed like there was nothing, until he came across a news story that claimed that Monarch was putting the UN on blast for founding a cross-species containment organization without informing Monarch, currently the only ones with legal authority to do anything with regards to cross-species (And being bleeding heart boy scouts about it), that they had been discussing and moved to do that very thing. This 'Artemis' organization had only been operational for a week or two, but already it was causing stir. Now that it was rumored that the UN had founded it behind Monarch's back, many were decrying the new organization, calling for its immediate termination. However, there was equal backlash that wanted it to remain. 'to take away the monopoly' those for Artemis claimed, as though it were some sort of business. Rothstein wouldn't be surprised if half these people were thinking that they could make money through businesses based around cross-species. Mostly scam operations, since cross-species were still so new, many who had suddenly found themselves being part human and part animal would likely fall for a number of scams related to healthcare, supports or the like.

However, Monarch was determined to put a stop to any such attempt before it even started and had been doing just that for almost three years. However, their staunch stance on cross-species and their unchallenged oversight of such was making the UN very irritated, as many world leaders would like to take full advantage of the endless possibilities that cross-species provided. However, Monarch was there to put their plans in the gutter, every step of the way.

Rothstein chuckled a little with amusement. He had no doubt that what was really going on was E.V.O using its influence in the UN to found and fund Artemis to try and gain a new foothold in this little war they were engaged in. E.V.O had lost a small, but noticeable amount of sway in the world ever since Yorburg's initial cross-species experiment spiraled out of control, gotten them exposed as a presence in the world, Though the extent of their presence was yet to be revealed. In addition to this, the continued pursuit of cross-species genetics as the next step of human evolution had led to one of their own going rogue and touching off a worldwide mutation event that to this day the reach and effects of were unknown. Needless to say, The Directors were getting rather frustrated with these continued problems that had cropped up these last three years. Especially since they hadn't had anything approaching this level of setback since they had finished infiltrating the governments of the world, and were starting to get desperate for a way to recover from this downward spiral they were locked in. Thus, targeting the apparent source of their problems was the logical conclusion they would come to. And since said source was cross-species, that meant they would have to contend with Monarch in one way or another. From there, they had decided to directly challenge Monarch and attempt to rip away some of their power by creating an organization to track down the non-human cross-species that threatened the environment and the human population of the world. The next step would be to strike at their power over human cross-species by creating their own support agency. Of course, they wouldn't be able to match Monarch in that regard, what with the Campuses they had constructed, but they'd at least take away some of that power and perhaps manage to bring a few cross-species into E.V.O's fold.

Eventually, he stood up and put the tablet away before making his way to the bedroom to rest. He had already arranged to head for the next vault location, and he would not be beaten this time.

* * *

 _The next day…_

Rothstein strode through the streets of Rio de Janeiro dressed as any other holiday goer. He'd begun using an old prototype of the original camouflaging tech he'd used during his time as Royston Parks to prevent being spotted by any lookouts for E.V.O, Monarch or the governments of the world. The two latter ones he'd become an enemy to when E.V.O was exposed to the world three years ago, and the former when he left everyone for dead when Biollante attacked Neo-Gen, getting some of their top scientists captured/killed, exposing Neo-Gen as a limb for E.V.O and leaving their operations once again crippled in some way, shape or form. If they caught wind of where he was, they would definitely attempt to capture him and let him face the judgement of the Directors, and he knew that their judgement would be harsh. Actually, 'harsh' didn't do it justice.

Perhaps he could barter some leniency when he got his hands on the vaults, using the knowledge and designs contained with in them. Yorburg may have been mad, but he was also a genius. Anything he kept locked away in those vaults would be good enough for bribing the half of the Directors on its own, let alone multiple items contained within.

First though, he had to find them.

To that end, he was on his way down the docks of a nearby beach, where he'd arranged for an E.V.O all-terrain vehicle to be waiting for him. Rio had one of the larger populations of new cross-species after the mutation event from two years ago, making it not uncommon to pass one in the streets. Most commonly it was people who had been mixed with tropical reptiles, though they were far from the only type of cross-species in the area. There were also many bird cross-species, often sporting bright feathers. It seemed that the people of Rio de Janeiro had come to accept cross-species as just another thing that existed quicker than most.

Rothstein was almost at the docks when he heard a commotion nearby. He turned and saw a cross-species (An iguana of some kind, Rothstein guessed) double over and start retching and groaning in obvious discomfort. This began turning into screams of pain as a crowd began to gather. Rothstein approached to have a closer look when he saw that the cross-species was beginning to change. They had initially started with a ridge of scales around the eyes, scales on their forearms and hands, reptilian claws on their hands and feet and a ridge of iguana spines running down his back. Now, the scales were spreading almost everywhere, his mouth was slowly becoming a set of reptilian jaws, his teeth sharpened and a tail emerged from the base of his spine. When his eyes snapped open, they were distinctly reptilian. The cross-species screeched as it stumbled to its feet and swung its head around in obvious panic and confusion before charging through the crowd of gathered bystanders and down the street. Rothstein watched with interest. He'd followed the situation revolving around the cross-species event from two years ago VERY closely, but had never come across any reports of spontaneous continued mutation. He'd have to follow up on that later. For now, only the vault mattered. Besides, the cross-species going on a rampage would keep eyes away from him as he began his search in the wilderness.

Rothstein picked up his pace and hurried down to the docks and made his way to a spot near a large cruise ship. There was a fenced off area that was seemingly empty. Empty that is, until Rothstein removed a small remote from his pocket and pressed a button on it, causing the air to begin to shimmer before his vehicle seemingly materialized out of thin air. Each of its six wheels were attached to an 'arm' that was connected to a computer, which would analyse the surrounding terrain and adjust accordingly. Additionally, it was bulletproof and could withstand immense heat, cold and pressure, and contained a stealth device to camouflage against its surroundings. The stealth unit inside was an older model, but it served its purpose well enough. Plus, it didn't drain the vehicles energy like a new one would. After pressing another button, the fence swung open to allow Rothstein inside. He pulled the door open and climbed inside his new transport. He'd already arranged for the equipment he would need to be delivered to it before and was happy to find that it was all sitting in the storage compartment. He revved the engine and drove out of the fenced area, heading straight for the rainforest. He had a vault to track down.

* * *

Augustus frowned as he waited for the codebreaker to finish cracking the safety measures on the blast door for the third vault. It was taking longer than he'd expected, but he realized that he should have expected it to take at least this long. His uncle was meticulous and obsessive when it came to guarding his knowledge. He checked a news update in Rio and smirked when he saw that his work had made headlines. Even if he had gotten the idea from studying his uncle's original formula, this was one hundred percent his own work: A serum designed to cause rapid mutation upon being exposed to mixed DNA. He'd tested it on several small non-human cross-species and determined that it was ready for a human trial, which was going spectacularly!

He'd slipped the formula to several cross-species earlier that day by spiking their food or drink with it, using an airborne vapour, and other means of exposing it to them. He didn't dare try to expose the whole city, as that would draw suspicion to external factors. But just a handful mutating? That would reflect poorly on cross-species and draw scrutiny. And that would keep Monarch and Artemis busy while he went about his own business.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the codebreaker beep, indicating that the security was cracked and that the door could be opened. He pressed the enter button and watched as the door in the rocks began to slide open. Augustus slipped inside, a sick grin plastered on his face. Soon he would possess the next key to vengeance.

* * *

 **Godzilla, this was a fun to write. I've said this before, but I always find it much more fun to write for villains. Especially Augustus. Augustus is probably the most completely sick and insane character I've ever created, and I feel that's saying something.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, we have Yorburg, the council from New Dawn, Viper from New Dawn, probably more that we're forgetting…**

 **Author: I wonder what that says about me as an author…**

 **Well, we won't get any answers today! See ya next week!**


	42. Off to Rio

**Four chapters in. Quarter of the way done. Kinda strange to think about it…**

 **Oh hi! Didn't realize we were live! Welcome to the fourth chapter of season 3! The writing machine's trucking along at a nice pace! Nicer than I thought it would be, anyway.**

 **Creativity: Yeah! Four chapters in one month? We're on a role!**

 **Author: Please don't cast upon us the curse of Ultimate Writers Block.**

 **So, what did everyone think of the mutation serum from the last chapter? Its something I've been toying around with for a while. I considered introducing it in the last season, but figured it would be better off here. Also, I didn't clarify this in ch2 s3, but I chose Artemis as the name for my new E.V.O outlet in reference to the goddess of the hunt, since these people are not like Monarch. They're just there to hunt down cross-species by whatever means they see fit (not too concerned about collateral damage)**

 **Some of you may or may not have noticed that little reference. Props and cookies to you!**

 **Now, without further ado, I present chapter 4!**

* * *

When Grey had been told the mission, he'd been skeptical. He knew that he really shouldn't be skeptical, considering everything that had happened these past three years, but he still was. One would have figured that one would stop believing that there was some sort of 'bar' for how strange or chaotic things got in his lunatic world, but nope. He still remained skeptical

Of course, now that the mission's target had him pinned to the ground and was gnashing at his face with razor sharp teeth, his skepticism had vanished. He grunted as he pulled his knees up to his chest and kicked upwards, launching his assailant away, and probably cracking a few ribs.

Grey scrambled to his feet as he saw the lizard man stand up as well, letting out a roar as it charged him again. It was surprisingly fast and ran hunched over, almost like a velociraptor. Grey braced himself for impact, mentally preparing himself to counter the incoming tackle. Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for the lizard man, Grey had backup in the forms of Sabrina and another cross-species named Lucas, the former of which slammed into the lizard man and the latter divebombing in and scratching at the lizard man with his talons.

Lucas was a bird cross-species. A black-collared hawk, to be specific. He had fully functioning wings, a hawk's beak for a mouth and nose, talon feet and had feathers collared around his neck. They were mostly black, with a tinge of brown out to the sides. The feathers continued up the back of his neck to his head, a very light grey as they got further up.

Lucas quickly flapped his wings and retreated when the lizard man snapped at him. The scratches had already healed, though there were still blood tracks. Grey had collected a blood sample earlier and had Ion analyze it, informing him that it had been a previously registered cross-species. Ion had produced an image of him before he became more reptilian and it only served to make Grey very confused and concerned. They'd never dealt with a case of continuous mutation before.

Unfortunately, the lizard man wasn't the only cross-species problem they were currently facing. Multiple cases of spontaneous mutation had been reported in Rio, all within minutes of each other. This couldn't be a coincidence. Several cross-species that worked with Rio's containment unit were aiding with this problem, as well as one or two teams from other campuses. However, no one was having luck in the 'containment' side of things. Grey and his group had been brawling with the lizard man for upwards of ten minutes and he didn't even look winded! Unfortunately, while he was much stronger and durable, he was still much more squishy than Grey or Sabrina, forcing them to really pull their punches. Lucas was having it even worse, as he had to be careful with his talons, not to do any permanent damage to the eyes or something similar. Additionally, he was not nearly as durable as the lizard man, forcing him to be extremely careful with his strikes and stay out of reach, lest he be incapacitated in one hit.

Grey charged forward and slammed his shoulder into the lizard man's chest before grabbing him around the middle and lifting him off the ground, spinning and tilting into a fall, then slamming him into the concrete with a loud ' _CRUNCH'!_

The cross-species groaned as Grey scrambled to his feet and stepped back, preparing for a reprisal. It didn't seem like one was coming until the cross-species staggered to its feet and groaned, staggering on its feet before shaking its head, seemingly disoriented. They lurched haphazardly towards Grey, only for Sabrina to intercept again with a punch to the gut, followed by an uppercut to the jaw. This knocked the poor soul clean out, allowing Grey and Sabrina to properly restrain him and signal for the teams to move in and load the cross-species up for transport. Lucas collapsed onto a bench, panting from exhaustion.

"I don't think I've ever flown that long before. My wings are gonna be sore for a week!" He gasped as he rolled his shoulders. Grey winced as he heard them pop a few times.

"Hitch a ride back to Campus with one of the trucks. Me and Sabrina need to go help the nearest team…" Grey started, but didn't finish. He was interrupted by Ion who was already talking before Grey could register his earpiece was making noise.

"Ion, could you say that again? I didn't quite catch that." Grey told Ion, who calmed down enough to deliver some coherent details.

" _We've had a Rothstein sighting...!"_ Ion started quickly before Grey interrupted again.

"WHAT?! WHERE IS HE?!" Grey all but shouted. Sabrina heard Ion groan on the other end of the earpiece.

" _As I was about to say before you interrupted me, he was heading into the rainforest in an E.V.O vehicle. Satellites can't find him, but we did manage to find a trail left behind by his vehicle once he entered the rainforest! There's a tracker drone already following at a safe distance, I've already got transportation heading your way, Graham's given the all clear to go after him and sent reinforcements! GO!"_ Ion shouted at the end, causing both Grey and Sabrina to wince at the volume. Ion seemed as much on edge about catching Rothstein as Grey and Sabrina were. Or she was just exasperated from the interruptions.

True to Ion's word, a helicopter descended from the sky to pick them up. They clamoured aboard and strapped in as the helicopter took off without preamble. Grey leaned around to look into the cabin, only to see that the helicopter had no pilot! Before Grey could start questioning what was going on, a hologram projector lit up, projecting Ion's image in between him and Sabrina.

" _I'm the one operating the helicopter, so don't panic. On another note, I did a recheck of pathway Rothstein's following and it appears that he isn't the first one to follow it today."_ Ion reported as the helicopter gained more altitude. Grey leaned forward a bit.

"Do you think Rothstein is working with them?" Sabrina asked.

" _I'm not sure. However, I did manage to get a few images of them. Not that its any good. Whoever they are, they're decked out in an environment suit that's worth more than I am, and that's saying something. The suit's also obscuring their face, so I can't give you anything on that count, but I can say that whoever it is has access to LOTS of money, so that'll help us narrow down the list a bit."_ Ion explained before flickering for a second.

" _The trail's cut off. I'll bring you guys down low enough to jump, then you can follow it on foot. The drone shouldn't be too far ahead."_ Ion informed them as the helicopter began losing altitude. Grey and Sabrina unbuckled themselves and made their way over to the doors.

"What about the backup?" Grey asked.

" _The drone will start broadcasting a beacon once you reach wherever Rothstein and the new guy were heading. They're in one of our new prototype transports, so they shouldn't take too long. Provided there's no malfunctions…"_ Ion trailed off, leaving Grey a bit panicked.

"Malfunctions? Ion, are those things ready for…"

" _Don't worry about it! Now, time to jump!"_ Ion quickly changed the subject before opening the doors. Grey was ready to protest, seeing as Ion had just mentioned malfunctions, but Ion tilted the helicopter to the side, causing Grey and Sabrina to topple out, with Grey shouting a string of curses at the helicopter as they plummeted into the rainforest.

The landing at least was smooth. Sabrina and Grey both managed to grab onto trees as they fell, sliding down them to the forest floor. They could see the tracks that Ion had mentioned and marveled at how a vehicle of its apparent size had managed to traverse such uneven terrain at such speeds.

"Well, this is your turf. You take the lead." Grey suggested. Sabrina nodded.

"Fair enough. Let's go." Sabrina agreed before starting down the trail that Rothstein had left. Not for the first time, Grey was glad his enhanced strength extended to higher jumping, allowing him to clear many obstacles much quicker than an ordinary human. As they kept following the gouged-out earth from the wheels of Rothstein's vehicle, Grey's amazement at the vehicles ability to traverse terrain that should be, by all logic, intraversable was incredible. They'd have to get some details on this thing for if they had to track a cross-species through similar terrain in the future. Or they could start working on a project Grey had suggested once or twice, but that seemed unlikely.

Soon they approached the beginning of a sheer cliff. Rothstein's vehicle tracks stopped there. Additionally, there was evidence that another vehicle of some kind had been here. It was subtle, but much of the natural debris that littered the bottom of the cliff had been disturbed, seemingly by the wind.

Sabrina began poking around, searching for where Rothstein and the other person who was ahead of all of them. Grey searched around to the right, rounding corner to find a massive, gaping hole in the cliff. Inside was a smooth corridor, leading into a pitch-black hallway. Grey signaled Sabrina to come take a look. She jogged over, her lips pinched together.

"Well, we know where they went." She muttered as she pressed a finger to her headset, causing the eyepiece to snap over her right eye. Grey followed suit and activated the night-vision setting on his headset. Together, they stepped into the dark.

* * *

Augustus smirked as he pressed the mining device to a large section of the wall, securing the anchors before pulling the trigger. With the anchors in place, he barely felt the recoil from the hammer striking the reinforced concrete. There was a satisfying crack, followed by a cloud of dust. He could see the wall was cracked, but it hadn't given yet. He pressed a button on the side of the device, filling the air with a distinct hissing noise as the explosive foam rushed into the breach, filling every crevice. Augustus pulled the device free and hurried back a ways before pressing another button, causing the tiny charge that had been implanted once the foam was in place to detonate. The wall burst open with a much larger cloud of dust and a brief heat wave. Not that Augustus could feel it. The suit just indicated that the temperature had risen for a brief moment. Augustus walked forward to admire his handiwork before stepping through his new doorway. This wasn't the room that the vault was stashed in, but it was much closer than simply going the long way around. Besides, there could easily be a cave-in up ahead. He'd run across a number of those already and each had proved to be an annoyance.

He made his way through another door way into a new corridor, then dusted himself off before proceeding down the hallway. He held up his mapping device to see where he was in relation to the next vault, when something caught his eye. A blip had appeared not too far behind him. It was well within the range to be detected by the device. Augustus began to curse himself for not checking the device more frequently when he noticed two more blips appear on the edge of the map. According to this, they had just entered the building and were trailing behind the first blip. Augustus cursed again. Someone had followed him, and now they were being followed by someone else. Hopefully it was just some unassuming tourists who got lost. Hell, he'd settle for law enforcement. If it was E.V.O or Monarch, things would get much more complicated than Augustus would find acceptable.

Augustus considered doubling back and killing whoever had stumbled into his uncle's place of safekeeping, but reminded himself that he was here for the vault above all else. He could acquire it and find somewhere to hide until the interlopers were gone or further into the facility.

Regardless, the vault took priority. He continued on his way, following his digital map until he reached the room the vault was hidden in. Unfortunately, there was another cave-in barring his way, and it looked like he wouldn't be able to simply use the mining device to break through an adjacent wall this time. Doubling back a bit, he found a room that got him closer to the vault's location and found a wall that was not load-bearing before preparing the mining device. He pressed it to the wall and fired it, breaching the wall and creating another dust cloud that he strode through to seek his prize.

Inside, it looked like an abandoned lab. Augustus' uncle had commissioned this relatively small facility for a series of experiments that had eventually led to his first cross-species mutagen formula. It had been abandoned shortly after the experiments concluded, but Yorburg had opted to hide one of his vaults here before he left, and had transmitted one of the coordinates needed to find his piece de resistance. And it was somewhere in this room.

Augustus looked around before finding what he was looking for. He walked over to a seemingly ordinary wall and pressed his hand to it. It glowed blue for a moment, then split into a 3x3 grid. He pressed four of the nine spaces, causing a large section of the wall to swing outward, revealing the vault. Augustus' face split into a wide grin as he removed the environment suit's glove from his hand and pressed it to the vault to enable transportation. The vault lifted into the air as Augustus pulled it from its hidden alcove. He slipped the glove back on and grabbed it by a handhold on its side before checking his digital map again to see how close those blips were. Augustus frowned when he noticed that the first blip was following his own path almost to the letter, sans any backtracking. The two others were also following behind, though at a much slower pace. It was the first blip that really had Augustus worried and angered. Someone was tracking either him, or the vault. Augustus put the map away and drew his weapon, disabling the safety. He began making his way back out, keeping a careful eye on the path ahead. Whoever was following him wouldn't live to see the light of day again.

And failing the use of his weapon, well… his uncle had thought of a solution for that too.

Rothstein carefully navigated the crumbling remains of Yorburg's laboratory, taking note of the fresh holes in the walls. They had been made not even an hour ago, indicating that whoever had the other two vaults was most likely still here. Rothstein removed a heavy-caliber revolver from a holster at his waist and made sure it was loaded. He had wanted to bring his thermos-nuclear firearm with him, but that might have been a bit too flashy if he was discovered, unlikely as that scenario was. Still, he had it in his transport as a precaution.

Rothstein thought back to when he and Yorburg both worked here for a time. Yorburg had been testing an early version of the serum that had given rise to the first generation of cross-species. Unfortunately, those experiments hadn't gone very well. The mutagen caused abnormal bone growth, hyper condensing of muscles and other organs, and other such gruesome side effects. They'd tested on rats most of them died before the mutagen stopped functioning, the pain and stress causing their hearts or brains to give out. All that assuming that the bone spikes didn't puncture anything vital before hand.

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts from his head, Rothstein pressed forward until he saw something ahead. A glint of silver, along with an electric blue glow. Rothstein's eyes widened and he dove to the side to avoid a thermo-nuclear blast. He turned and ran for cover, hiding behind a section of collapsed wall as another shot sizzled past him. He rechecked his ammunition and peaked the corner, seeing his attacker was wearing an incredibly advanced environment suit, meaning their face was obscured. He took two quick shots, hearing the sound of them striking the intended target. However, the target merely stumbled and flinched before they kept walking forward, priming the next shot in their weapon. Rothstein cursed when he realized that it was from E.V.O. It was still in beta when he'd disappeared, but it was definitely an E.V.O gun. How this mystery person had acquired it was beyond him, as even Rothstein wouldn't have been permitted to carry it, but here it was.

The figure rounded the corner and levelled their gun at Rothstein, but they were stopped when a blast of purple energy sent them flying backwards ten feet! Rothstein looked to see none other than two gen one cross-species. One of them was all too familiar to Rothstein.

"I kinda hoped backup would have arrived by now but, I think we can make due." Grey muttered to his partner, who just nodded and charged up her gauntlets.

The two cross-species charged and chaos ensued.

 **Well, looks like I'll be splitting this chapter down the middle. Turned out it was longer than I thought. So, you guys get a bonus chapter! HURRAH!**

 **Creativity: Yeah! Everyone likes extra stuff!**

 **Author: Well, I suppose it depends on what you're getting extra of.**

 **Well, there's nothing really to talk about, aside from Infinity War coming out digitally as of this writing! I'll be watching that over and over again because its AWESOME! Even though I can't help but not feel so good afterwards.**

 **Kill me now.**

 **Well, that's enough out of me! See ya next week!**


	43. Tragedy in Rio

**Well, here we are with your BONUS CHAPTER!**

 **Strangely, I can't help but hear that phrase in the same voice as the announcer for BONUS DUCKS in TF2. And now, you all get to hear it with me! I have infected your brains with it… hehehehhehhahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHA**

 **Creativity: Boss, could you… bring it down a bit… you're kinda freakin' me out.**

 **Author: Sorry about that. I'm cool now. As you may have noticed, we are publishing this in the middle of the week, as opposed to the usual Sunday schedule. That's because this chapter was originally going to be part of the previous one, but got too large and it was decided slice it down the middle. So, you get two chapters in one week!**

 **Creativity: Plus, that little bonus we may or may not have planned for the end of the story.**

 **Author: No spoilers!**

 **Creativity: I didn't spoil anything!**

 **Author: Too close! Initiate anti-spoiler measures! (Arms extended from master chair that bind creativity and duct tape his mouth shut)**

 **Author: Much better!**

 **Well, I think that's enough blabbering! I present chapter five (s3)!**

* * *

When Grey and Sabrina finally tracked down Rothstein, they hadn't been expecting to find him on the floor and held at gunpoint by someone in a really strange suit, hauling a floating box. The suit looked like some sort of new spacesuit, with the face obscuring visor and black/silver material. The box was even stranger, as it had some sort of hover functionality and some sort of fingerprint lock.

The gun that the new guy had though, was very concerning. It was very obviously a thermo-nuclear firearm, which immediately signalled an affiliation with E.V.O.

It looked like Ion was right about someone within E.V.O. wanting Rothstein dead. Still, they wanted him alive for question, so Sabrina handled that problem with a low-power blast to knock their new opposition away. After that, things devolved fast.

Sabrina went after the newcomer, while Grey charged Rothstein. Rothstein got off two more shots with his revolver, which hit Grey's body armor, creating bruises, but not coming close to stopping him as he swatted the revolver out of Rothstein's hand and delivered a blow to his chest, knocking Rothstein back into the wall, a hand covering the spot where Grey had struck him. Grey advanced, ready to deliver the knockout blow, only to be sent flying back when Sabrina crashed into him, her suit smoking from a thermo-nuclear blast from the new guy's firearm! The gun was leveled at the two of them again before a switch was depressed three times, causing the lines along the barrel of the gun to glow an even brighter blue before the trigger was pulled, causing a powerful blast to erupt from the gun and hit Grey in the shoulder! Grey yelped in surprise as he was thrown back again, tumbling to a stop on his back. He pulled himself to his feet and looked at his shoulder, which now sported a real nasty looking burn. The burn was about the size of a quarter, but the skin around it was blackened from the impact. It was incredibly bloody, but it was already healing. Grey hauled himself to his feet and stared down the mystery man as he put the gun away and removed what looked like some sort of detonator or remote control before pressing a button near the top of it. Immediately, the entire place began to rumble and shake, dust raining from the ceiling and cracks appearing in the walls and floor. Grey and Sabrina looked around in horror and began running for their Godzilla-damned lives as the old lab began to crumble around them!

They could hear Rothstein shouting in terror as he ran behind them. They couldn't hear the one in the suit, but they could both imagine that whoever they were, they were running out of there as fast as they could. Along the way, they heard a guttural shriek of something inhuman, but they didn't dare look back. Soon, they saw daylight up ahead and put on an extra burst of speed, running as fast as their bodies could possibly go before emerging into the rainforest and leaping into the air and grabbing onto the trees, leaping further and further as a section of the cliff face collapsed away. Neither Sabrina or Grey could see Rothstein or the mystery person in the rubble. However, their attention was soon drawn when they heard that shriek again. They watched with awe and horror as something tore its way out of the cliff face. Something big.

It was thirty feet long and appeared to be some sort of reptile. About half its body length was made up by its tail, which was whip-like and had a ridge of spikes running from the tip of its tail to the end of its nose. Its head was triangular and had sunken eyes and dagger-pointed teeth. Its body was sinuous and muscled. Its four limbs had four toes, each ending with hooked claws that were made for tearing rather than gripping. Its skin was pale and lacerated in a few places, probably by shackles. Its eyes were bloodshot and manic. Most disturbingly, there were large bone spikes sticking out of its joints and shoulder blades. On its chest, its ribs were incredibly defined, as though they were many times their normal size.

It let out a bellow and charged into the rainforest, clamouring towards Rio. Grey and Sabrina gaped in horror for a few seconds before realizing they should be chasing the creature and leapt from the trees to the forest floor and breaking into a run, trying to avoid the trees that the creature was knocking down as it went.

* * *

Rothstein shouted and cursed as he emerged into the sunlight, pressing a button on his vehicles ignition remote to turn it on, as well as open the driver's side door as he clamoured inside. He immediately gunned it, driving sideways along the cliffside to avoid the avalanche. He hadn't counted on Yorburg having the place rigged to blow at the flick of a switch. Though in retrospect, he should have. Yorburg was zealous when it came to guarding his knowledge.

However, that was far from the most infuriating thing he had to deal with at the moment. Once again, a vault had been snatched from his fingers! He cursed and raged as he drove away from the laboratory, until he heard the bellow of a mad animal.

Once he was out of range of the rockslide, he turned and saw as the beast tore free of the mountain. His face turned pale and his blood ran cold. The creature looked like one of the test subjects from Yorburg's experiments. He'd never seen this particular one, but it exhibited many of the same traits as the test subjects. The bone plates, bloodshot eyes and mania were all telltale signs. The bulky ribcage was another.

This creature must have Yorburg's one success with those experiments, and he'd repurposed it into a failsafe for his vaults. Rothstein was about to drive off when he saw what appeared to be some sort of motorcycle driving away from the rockslide. He could see the vault mounted on the back! Wheeling his vehicle around, he gave chase into the jungle, pressing the gas pedal as low to the ground as he could! The bike itself was composed of an egg-shaped pod attached to two wheels. The driver was inside the pod, operating the bike. There were gyroscopes that allowed the wheels to turn based on the conditions of the ground without having to change course, or causing the pod to shift from any position other than upright. It may have had a speed advantage, but it didn't wasn't quite as well adapted for operation in an such an uneven ground as Rothstein's transport was, making for no clear advantage. Rothstein snarled as he maneuvered through the undergrowth, determined to stop that bike and take the vault for himself!

However, those hopes were dashed when they breached the rainforest and were back on proper roads. They raced through Rio until the bike approached the docks. Rothstein watched in awe as the bike drove off an incline, heading straight into the ocean! The wheels turned sideways and the inside of the wheels slide open to reveal turbines! The bike was now floating three feet above the water and rocketed down the coast, leaving Rothstein in its wake. He cursed and shouted before wheeling his vehicle around and heading for cover. He needed to get to the next vault location before his opponent got there first, or soon he'd be left with no vaults at all!

* * *

Grey and Sabrina raced through the undergrowth in pursuit of this new lizard monster as it tore its way through the jungle towards Rio. It had already bulldozed through several trees in its crazed rush towards the city perimeter. Grey leapt over another falling tree and heard his earpiece crackle to life as Ion started freaking out about something heading towards the city.

"Yeah, Ion, we know! We're chasing it right now! So, if you could keep it down so we can concentrate on closing the gap without getting flattened, that would be great!" Grey shouted as he leapt into the air and leapt again off an upright tree to try and land on the creatures back. Unfortunately, the creature suddenly swerved, causing Grey to miss his mark and stumble when he landed. He quickly recovered though, leaping once again to try and close the gap. He then realized in fear, that they were now on a semi-smooth dirt road. That meant they were getting closer and closer to civilization and that the creature was now much less burdened by trees and other obstacles, allowing it to pick up its pace into a loping stride. However, that also meant an opening in the trees. Grey and Sabrina heard the sound of familiar helicopter descending from the sky as Ion brought the machine up next to them and opened the doors, allowing them to leap aboard. The helicopter ascended, allowing them to get a better view of where the monster was heading. Their blood rain cold when they saw it was heading straight for Rio, and would arrive there in only a few minutes.

"Please tell me that backup is here." Sabrina half-begged.

" _They're in the city. They were just arriving in Rio a minute or so before the creature appeared on our scopes. They're heading to intercept and the ones who were helping with the earlier crisis are helping to evacuate everyone from the projected battleground."_ Ion relayed to them as they brought up a map of Rio, displaying the path the creature had travelled so far and a few projections for where they thought it was going. Additionally, it showed the evacuation effort as a percentage. Grey noticed Sabrina suddenly tense up when she saw which pathway was highlighted as most likely for the creature to follow.

"That's my friend Gabriel's neighbourhood! I gotta get there! I have to get him out of there!" She exclaimed quickly and panicky.

"You heard her, Ion!" Grey ordered. Ion immediately altered course and they accelerated towards the indicated neighbourhood. The whole way there, Sabrina kept tapping her foot, fidgeting with her hands or tightening her fist with stress. They could see that the creature was so far, sticking to that pathway, regardless of any obstruction by Monarch. To be fair, that wasn't much. They hadn't exactly come prepared to deal with a thirty-foot-long lizard monster. Grey was feeling anxious himself. He hadn't dealt with something this large before. This thing wasn't big enough to warrant the attention of something like Godzilla or Mothra, but it was still more than large enough to devastate the city if they weren't able to stop it in time. This was going to be one of the hardest fights of their lives.

* * *

Augustus cackled like a madman as he tore away from Rio as fast as the bike could go! He'd done it! He'd successfully collected the vault, fought passed the interloper who thought he could steal his uncle's work AND Monarch's lackeys, then escaped with the aid of his uncle's safeguard! He was rather annoyed he'd been discovered by Monarch, but he did have his face disguised, thanks to his suit. Plus, with any luck, the safeguard would take care of that problem in a hurry.

He was rather surprised by the safeguard's true appearance. He'd seen his uncle's notes and a few pictures from before and after its transformation, but seeing it in person had been something else. The decades hadn't exactly been kind to it. Its skin was pale and despite automated feeding, it looked a bit undernourished. That, and the manacles used to restrain it had cut into the skin a fair bit. The lacerations in its otherwise unbroken scale armor could were chinks that could be easily exploited. However, most of the lacerations were on its limbs and not a hindrance to movement. It was doubtful that those infernal cross-species would be able to aim a shot or strike a blow to those spots, leaving them with only the option to overpower the creature. And that, would be an entirely different, possibly insurmountable task.

Augustus rounded a cliff and came to his uncle's home in Brazil: a sprawling mansion built INSIDE of a cliff face. The entrance was through a waterfall that ran down one side of the cliff. It wasn't terribly large, but it hid the entrance remarkably well. He pressed a button on the bike, causing the entrance to open and divert the waterfall around it. He raced through as it began closing. The long corridor was fitted with massive air blowers to instantly remove any seawater that may be clinging to the body of any vehicle that entered. Soon he came to a large, circular room with a metal disk inlayed into the floor. Augustus stopped on the disk and two metal arms emerged from panels in the disk, stabilizing the bike as the side of the main pod opened and he stepped out. He detached the vault and hauled it into the mansion as the disk lowered into the floor, taking the bike with it. Augustus signalled for the machine to treat the bike for salt buildup and continued into a lavish foyer. It was all designed with the modern aesthetic in mind. The floor was made of pentagonal tiles that were a dark, smoky colour, while the walls were polished marble. There were small waterfalls imbedded into the walls, with the surface behind the water being of similar color to the floor, but much rougher. There wasn't much for decoration, aside from a boxy chandelier made from obsidian glass and a diamond the size of an apple. The lighting system was all built into the walls and floor, casting a white/blue light all over the foyer. There were also two flights of stairs on either side of the foyer that led up to a second level, which continued off into the manor. On the second floor, there was a framed portrait of his uncle, looking as proud and authoritative as he had at his best. As Augustus passed it, he paused and lowered his head to it before proceeding to the workshop. As he did, Augustus took a moment to reflect that all of this belonged to him alone.

Augustus' family had always been incredibly wealthy, a fact that only became more true when they joined E.V.O.

E.V.O was more wealthy than any nation on the planet. With its many inconspicuous limbs, it acquired lucrative contracts in weapons, biology, technology and many other facets of the modern word. Since it was always four or five generations of technology ahead, all it had to do was offer some of its more 'outdated' technology to the world, under the guise that it was the next step forward. In a sense it was, but that was only relative. As such, many countries were unaware that they were funding E.V.O's experiments. Not that they would find any evidence anyway. E.V.O always had a few people in strategic positions within the government to ensure that they went unnoticed.

Augustus had learned all of this from his uncle, who hoped one day that Augustus would become his successor. Of course, that dream lay dashed at the feet of both Augustus and his deceased uncle, leaving them both with only revenge.

Before he realized it, Augustus had reached the workshop, where he had deposited his other two vaults. Upon entering he carefully placed the vault next to the other two and opened the access panel before removing his glove. He pressed his hand against the panel, feeling the needles poke into his fingers and wincing as he felt blood being extracted through them. The vault beeped an affirmative and swung open to reveal the contents. This one contained small pieces of research and a few mock-ups for cybernetic enhancements, one or two formulae for various prototype performance enhancers, and a genetic blueprint for the projected results of the gen 1 cross-species. However, what he was really after was just barely hidden from view. Augustus repeated the extraction process for the coordinates and began inputting those coordinates into a GPS system. His smirk changed into a frown when he saw the location of the coordinates. This one was going to require a little bit of extra preparation if he was going to even survive the trip TO the location.

* * *

Grey shouted and motioned for people to run towards the Monarch barricade as the heard the shriek of their lizard problem approaching. Sabrina was going door to door to make sure everyone was evacuated from their homes, as well as searching for her friend. Meanwhile, a Monarch helicopter was descending with their backup. As it turned out, their backup was more cross-species. Specifically, a bird cross-species, Barry, Gordon and Click! The bird cross-species seemed vaguely familiar to Grey. She introduced herself as Emma and claimed to have been present for an incident with a giant slug a little over a year ago, but Grey immediately shut down the conversation and turned his attention to the giant lizard, which was now visible down the street.

"Okay, so please tell me you brought something other than claws and attitude, because I doubt those will do much against big ugly." Grey pleaded. Emma responded by hefting what looked suspiciously like a thermo-nuclear sniper rifle up from the helicopter.

"Well, I do have this." She said with a hint of smugness. Grey stared at the weapon with some concern.

"Where exactly did you get that?" Grey asked, a tightness to his voice. Emma slung it over her shoulder.

"I'm training to be part of the response team for E.V.O problems and situations like this. Since I have enhanced vision and that have the strength to achieve liftoff if I did have wings, I trained for sniping." She explained. Grey knew about Monarch having a new militaristic aspect for situations like this. Hell, he'd helped make it a reality! But he wasn't quite aware of how far that had gone.

"We're training snipers? Since when are we training snipers?"

Emma shrugged.

"Its not like proper military training or anything. Its mainly how to shoot the gun without hurting yourself. Besides, this thing doesn't have nearly the same kick as a real sniper rifle. And the one they gave me has is pre-set to not be too powerful. " Emma assured them.

"Well alright then. Take an elevated position and see if you can slow that thing down. Any other nuclear weapons I should be made aware of? Also, did you know about this, Ion?" Grey inquired pointedly. He didn't mind that they had firepower appropriate for the job at hand, but he would have liked to know about it before hand.

" _It was a bit of a rush order, so no, I did not know that they were bringing experimental weaponry along with them."_ Ion responded, seeming a bit miffed about being kept out of the loop on this one. Grey just pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, deal with this later. Deal with this later. Back to the point at hand, is there any other gear I should be made aware of, and make it quick! We're on a timer here!" Grey ordered.

Barry and Click both had the latest iterations of their standard gear, as well as a few bonus gadgets. Gordon had his own gauntlets that featured massive bear claws of their own, as well as a hydraulic piston that would fire when he punched, causing his strikes to be far more deadly than they already were.

"Okay. Gordon, you keep your distance and continue the evacuation. Once everyone's cleared out, try and knock out that thing's legs. Click and Barry, you two use those new toys of yours to try and distract it while me and Sabrina try to bring it down. Emma, get to a rooftop and focus on its joints. If you can damage them enough, we'll have a better chance to bring it down. Go!" Grey ordered. Everyone immediately leapt into action. Emma quickly scaled a house and unslung her rifle. Grey still had an uneasiness about her using it. It was leaning towards something Grey had feared and fought against since the earliest days of cross-species existence: Being taken advantage of by the military. She may have been a volunteer, and specifically for cross-species containment and dealing with E.V.O, but he still felt like this could be inviting a host of problems he'd been trying to avoid.

Grey wasn't able to muse on cross-species drafting much longer, as the creature shrieked again. Grey could see it down the street. They still had a minute or two at best before it would be on top of them. Sabrina reluctantly hurried over to his side from where she had been searching for Gabriel. She was very anxious since she hadn't heard whether or not he had evacuated yet. Grey felt sympathy for her, but they had a giant monster to deal with first.

Grey and Sabrina started running down opposite sides of the road before leaping to the rooftops. Click and Barry were already in position and preparing to make the first move on the creature. Their new gear sported special 'boost jets' that allowed them to leap in a manner similar to Grey and Sabrina. Their gauntlets had also been upgraded to produce an electric shock when they used their EMP ability. They also had some other gadgets, but they had yet to detail what they were. Grey was particularly interested with those booster jets, as they seemed to be a prelude to something Grey had been hoping would be made. However, he was more concerned about whether or not it would be enough to deal with the mutant reptile that was rampaging through Rio.

As Sabrina and Grey got closer, Grey charged up a blast in each of his gauntlets before firing his left gauntlet at the creature, hitting it in the side. It stumbled, but it didn't seem to deal any real damage. As it turned to roar at him, Barry leapt from his perch, slamming his fist into is neck, right where there was a band of raw flesh. The creature shrieked and tossed its head from side to side, stumbling again. There was a high-pitched whine as Emma took her first shot, hitting the creature in its left elbow and a spot of exposed flesh. This time, there was burn damage. The creature's arm buckled from the strike, but didn't collapse yet. Sabrina leapt into the air, aiming for an unarmored section on its spine. She fired two blasts from her gauntlets before driving her feet into the creature's vertebrate with a loud _CRACK_! The creature shrieked and spun, its tail shredding through buildings as it scrambled about, trying to locate the source of its pain. Grey felt his heart drop when the creature blindly charged straight through several buildings and continued to mindlessly lash out, bringing down more homes by the second! People who were still in the midst of evacuation screamed as they saw the creature smash through the houses. Worst of all, Grey could now see there were people who were still in a few of the houses, possibly trapped or remaining behind for some other purpose. Regardless, there was an immediate change in plans as Grey leapt down and began trying to get them away from the battle.

* * *

Sabrina could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she dropped to the ground and charged towards one of the still-occupied houses. She needed to make sure Gabriel wasn't in the middle of all this. If he got hurt under her watch, she would never be able to forgive herself. She leapt into the remains of the first house and found what appeared to be a pair of siblings hiding in the corner. She looked around and saw a pile of rubble nearby with a few drops of blood just beyond the rocks. She hurried over to the siblings and made sure they were unharmed before lifting them both in a fireman's lift and rushing out of the building and towards the perimeter for the evacuation. She gave the personnel overseeing the evacuation what few details she had and ran back into the fray, searching for more trapped victims. She saw Grey out of the corner of her eye, carrying two people in a similar lift away from the fight. He wasn't out of sight for very long as she saw two blasts erupt overhead, striking the creature in the head! That caused it to rear back, opening itself up for her to blast its exposed belly with her own gauntlets, causing it to collapse onto its back! She took the opportunity to shout for anyone left in the houses to run, which prompted a dozen or so people to come sprinting out of the collapsing buildings and flee down the street towards the evacuation. Then she saw something that caused her to stop dead. She could see Gabriel trying to help someone out of a building with a collapsed wall. She sprinted over and found a ghastly sight.

Gabriel was trying to help an elderly man out of the rubble, only the man's foot was completely mangled. Inside, he could see two other people who had been killed when the wall and a section of roof had collapsed, though she could tell as their faces were hidden by rubble.

"What are you doing?! Get out of here!" She shouted at her friend, who turned to look at her in shock!

"Sabrina?! What are you doing here?!" He exclaimed as he helped the poor man hobble out of the house. Sabrina resisted the urge to curse when she saw how bad the poor man's foot was.

"I'm here to stop this thing! And I can't do that if I'm constantly worrying about you being pulverized!" She shouted in a panicky tone as she heard the creature's tail whipping around. She grabbed the man and Gabriel and forced them to the ground as the tail passed over head, shaking another section of wall loose. She helped them both up and spun around, her eyes widening as she saw the creature approaching them! She grabbed both the man and Gabriel and leapt away as it swiped at where they had just been standing! She kept making her way closer and closer to the evacuation perimeter before she heard Grey shout and felt a terrific blow to her side, causing her to black out.

When she came to, she was lying in the rubble of another house. She was half-buried in concrete and her entire body felt like she'd been hit by a semi-truck. She slowly started to push herself up and felt her blood run ice-cold, in spite of her wooziness. She could see the old man lying about seven feet away. He was obviously dead. His body was twisted in too many directions for him not to be. Not too far away from him was Gabriel. He was covered in lacerations and had a broken leg and arm. Worst of all, a piece of metal was sticking out from his side. The wound was bleeding profusely. She numbly saw Grey hurry in and check her before rushing to Gabriel to check his pulse.

Sabrina's numbness began to ebb away as she took the scene in. Her friend was hurt. Badly. She heard the roar of the creature and felt a boiling rage build inside of her. That thing had HURT GABRIEL!

Her mouth parted in a bellow of rage as her eyes began to glow violet. She leapt out of the building and landed in front of the creature before snarling, determined to rip it limb from limb.

* * *

Grey wasn't sure what was worse about the current situation. On the one hand, Gabriel was alive, but only barely. Calling his breathing shallow was too generous, his heartrate was deteriorating steadily, and the wound on his side would kill him if he wasn't brought to emergency care immediately. However, if Grey tried to remove the metal and couldn't stop the bleeding, Gabriel's death would be a certainty.

And on top of ALL of this, Sabrina had just entered her first primal rage from the physical and emotional trauma she'd just undergone. Grey had only experienced one or two in his three years of being a cross-species, and they were never pleasant for anyone. He could hear Sabrina fighting the creature outside and couldn't tell who was winning, but suspect that Sabrina had the upper hand. Unfortunately, she would be fighting on her own, since she would most likely attack anything that got between her and the creature, including the rest of the team. Hopefully, she would beat that thing before she exhausted herself and passed out. Otherwise, someone would have to rescue her once she became unconscious, or Grey would have to step in and deal with her while she was berserk. He'd honestly prefer the former.

"Ion, can you help me with this?" Grey called over comms.

" _This is not good."_ Ion replied seconds later.

"Thank you, captain obvious. Now what can I do to prevent him from dying?" Grey asked.

" _Give me a second… Okay. I've moved to your gauntlets. I'm going to produce a short-range torch with your right gauntlet. You're going to need to remove the metal and use the torch to cauterize the wound."_ Ion explained as the gauntlet began to hum. Grey cursed.

"Okay then. Can you give me a pathway to follow with the torch?"

" _Already set. Okay. When I now, pull the metal out with your LEFT hand and get ready with the torch. Ready… Three… Two… One… NOW!"_

Grey swiftly pulled the metal free and pressed his fist just below the wound before igniting the torch. Gabriel shouted in agony as the wound was burned shut. Grey hurried over to the body of the old man and tore away a large section of the man's shirt and used it to bind the wound. He then carefully picked up Gabriel and rushed towards the evacuation perimeter. He ordered that Gabriel receive immediate medical attention and hurried back to the fight. However, the fight was over. Sabrina had knocked the thing unconscious and seemingly destroyed one of its eyes. She was snarling as she weakly beat on its head before she saw Grey approaching. The glow in her eyes had dissipated, but it was definitely still there. Grey braced himself as she snarled at him, warning him to back off. Grey didn't flinch as he kept marching forward. She abandoned beating on the creature's skull and rushed towards him, swinging a fist. Grey braced and let it strike him in the chest. He barely budged. She swung again, this time at his head. Yet again, he didn't move.

She took a few more swings before she collapsed to her knees. Grey knelt down and saw the last of the glow fade from her eyes before she slumped to the side, completely out cold.

The next couple of weeks were a blur to Sabrina. She had woken up in a Monarch hospital wing, completely exhausted and more sore than she had ever felt in her life. Several of her fellow cross-species had came by to visit, but she felt numb the whole time. Shortly after she woke up, she had a few flashes of memory from the fight in Rio. The one that stood out most was seeing Gabriel hurt like that. When she had asked how he was, Grey told her that he'd spent hours upon hours in surgery, but ultimately succumbed to his wounds.

As it turned out, the man Gabriel had been trying to save was his great uncle, who had been found dead from the same blow that had wounded Gabriel and herself. Gabriel's grandmother and grandfather had been killed in the same attack that initially wounded his great uncle. Funeral arrangements were still being made.

After a few weeks, Sabrina came to a resolution. It had been revealed that the creature was of E.V.O creation, and Sabrina and Grey had seen Rothstein and someone with tech to rival E.V.O in the same place the creature had come from. E.V.O had killed her friend. And they were going to pay.

* * *

 **Wow, this was WAY longer than I had anticipated. I considered making it a 3 parter, but decided against it. After all, this is a bonus chapter. Why not make it extra long as well?**

 **Creativity: Leg muscles… No worky.**

 **Author: Yeah, no kidding. Well, I don't think there's much left to say here. See ya on Sunday!**


	44. Island Dread

**Good day to you all! Creativity here, since the boss had an important meeting to handle. Something about 'upgrading the current package' or whatever. So, I'll be handling the intro for today!**

 **So, how did everyone enjoy the bonus chapter earlier this week? My legs still ache from that one. So, we're technically five chapters in now, not counting this one, and we're already closing in on the mid-season break! Don't worry, it won't be nearly as long as the last time we had a mid-season break. Just long enough for us to make sure everything's in order and there are no missing elements.**

 **You know, when the boss and I started this project, we didn't think it was going to end up being as big as it was. Now its easily the biggest story we've published to date!**

 **You know, now that I think about it, its often the small things that balloon into the big stuff, isn't it?**

 **Also something to think about is that it'll be December by the time this comes out, or at least VERY close to it. And that means exams for me and Christmas season approaching! No, there will not be a Christmas special for anything this year. At least, not at the moment. Its still August while I'm writing this, so things may change.**

 **Oh, pardon me! There's an alert from our Idea Distillery that needs attending! So, without further ado, I present chapter 5 (s3)!**

* * *

Of all the things Grey thought he'd be doing in the next few weeks, swimming through the remains of ground zero for the twists and turns his life had taken for the last three years was not one of them.

Ever since the disaster in Rio, Monarch had redoubled its efforts in tracking down Rothstein and his mysterious adversary. They were pouring over more surveillance than ever, searching for leads in any family, acquaintances, anywhere they could search. Currently, Grey and a small team of divers were picking their way through the remains of the base Grey had helped destroy three years ago. Grey wasn't sure what Graham thought they would find here, but he'd gone regardless.

Currently, he was swimming down the corridor he'd walked down before facing Yorburg. It was surprisingly free of debris, making his passage easier. He'd checked several rooms already, but they were mostly just labs that contained nothing useful anymore. A couple had been personal quarters, but those had proven just as useless. Disturbingly, he'd found a skeleton laying in the corner of one of the rooms. He'd left that room in a hurry.

There was a small number of fish that were flitting about in the water, which didn't really surprise Grey. The old base made an excellent artificial reef, and the various aquatic plants had managed to invade the flooded hallways, and the many who didn't make it out would naturally make an excellent source of food, gruesome as the idea was.

However, there was one thing that grabbed Grey's attention, much as he didn't want to see it. Down at the end of the hallway, Grey felt his heart rate pick up as he saw the slumped over corpse of what had once been the man who used him as a test subject, still pinned to the floor with rebar and scrap metal. Yorburg's carcass was in surprisingly good shape, considering it had spent three years submerged in the sea. It did show signs of decay, but there was no evidence that anything had tried eating it. There were several clumps of kelp stuck in patches over the body, but they looked as if they were diseased. Grey averted his eyes and swam down a corridor to his right. Then something caught his eye.

There was a large section of wall that had collapsed, revealing a room on the other side that appeared to not have any other visible entrance. More curiously, there was little-to-no erosion, at least compared to the rest of the abandoned facility. He swam into the room and began examining it. Someone had obviously come through here after the events from three years ago. Much after. There was probably some sort of alternate entrance, but whoever came through here obviously didn't bother with it. That said, they did know it was here. Then Grey noticed something.

There was a large cavity in the wall, obviously for housing something. Then it clicked. The dimensions almost perfectly matched up with that strange box that whoever it was that tried to snuff Rothstein was carrying. It seemed doubtful they would decide to lug something that big to Rio. Grey used his headset to take a few photos for analysis before making his way back out through the broken wall before contacting the rest of the divers, requesting an update. He got a response a second or two later, informing him that they had located a small energy signature and were going to investigate. Grey had wanted to get out of this place, but he decided he should probably be there to help with the signature, just in case it turned out to be booby trapped or some other problem arose. In a place like this, you could never be too sure.

It took him only a few minutes to backtrack to the flooded elevator shaft he'd used to change levels and he dove downward towards a lower floor. To his knowledge, he'd never visited this one. According to what data they had manage to recover before E.V.O flooded and blew up the place, the genetic experiments had been housed in the floors above the submarine dock, as well as the holding pens for cross-species and whatever other monsters they made up there.

Eventually, he reached the floor that the dive team had congregated on and swam through the hallways to catch up with them. He found them searching what looked like the remains of a server room. He didn't know why they would bother sticking around. Even if there was an energy signature in the immediate area, they wouldn't be able to recover anything from the servers. They'd been flooded for three years.

Eventually, one of the divers indicated that they had located something behind a wall near the back of the server room. Grey swam over and they tapped on the wall, indicating that whatever was causing the energy spike was behind it. Grey nodded in recognition and swam back a ways before switching his gauntlets to a maintained beam before charging up the right one. He aimed carefully and used the beam to cut a hole in the wall before sinking his claws into the concrete and pulling it free. Behind the wall was a black cube, roughly six inches long, wide and tall. It had a glowing blue light in the middle and appeared completely waterproofed.

Grey swam closer to investigate it. His headset indicated that whatever this box was, it was currently running on electricity. Thus, it had to be waterproofed. Otherwise the thing would have shorted out years ago. Additionally, it looked like it was meant to be removed. He began searching for some sort of mechanism that would safely detach the box, since he didn't to remove it and have water short it out because he removed it incorrectly. Instead, he took a few more photos of the box and made his way out of the facility, ascending to the research vessel floating above. After surfacing, he climbed on deck and went to wash the seawater from his gills before changing.

It was another fifteen or twenty minutes before the rest of the divers surfaced. A few minutes later and they were on their way back to shore. Once they docked, Grey disembarked and found a helicopter waiting for him on a landing pad nearby. The flight back was uneventful, though he did see a couple of rainclouds off in the distance. He was just glad that they were heading away from them.

He arrived back at the Vancouver facility and immediately went Graham's office to deliver the data they'd collected from the trip, as well as ask a few questions. He politely tapped a few times on the door to her office and waited for her to invite him in.

"I already received the overview from the rest of the dive team, but they did tell me you had some specific information for me." Graham began. Grey nodded before holding up his headset and popping open a compartment at the back and removing a small card.

"Took some pictures of a two things I thought would be of interest. The first is some sort of storage compartment, but it was emptied some time ago. My guess is roughly a year or two ago, based on the erosion of the breach leading to it. The other is some sort of electrical device that's been running for three years without charge. In regards to the compartment, I'd guess that it was used to house a box that was of identical dimensions to the one that was being lugged around by that person we caught trying to fry Rothstein." Grey reported. Graham nodded as she plugged the card into her computer and downloaded all of the images to her computer.

"How's she doing?" Grey asked bluntly. Graham pursed her lips.

"I'm concerned. Ever since she's been released from medical care, she's been training non-stop, her eating habits are sporadic at best and she obviously hasn't been sleeping well. She's already withdrawn from instructing, which I consider to be sensible, but she's isolating herself more by the day." Graham responded. Grey frowned. He hadn't expected Sabrina to be feeling anything other than devastated by the loss of her friend, especially considering the circumstances of his death, but that didn't stop him from worrying that she was going to get herself hurt. The most worrying thing was that it was obvious she was planning to go after E.V.O for what they did, but with her in the state she was in, she would only get herself killed.

It was silently agreed upon to let her deal with her grief in her own way, until things started to get out of hand. However, Grey was wondering if things already were starting to get out of hand, and not just Sabrina's sudden shift in attitude. He couldn't shake the feeling that the Rio disaster was just one of many events yet to unfold.

* * *

Rothstein grumbled as he sipped coffee from a hotel mug. It wasn't the best hotel he could have stayed in, but it was far from the worst. It just felt… cramped, at least compared to the places he usually stayed at.

He was waiting for the next set of coordinates to finish decrypting. He had two other sets decrypted, but he didn't currently have the equipment to go after them quite yet. Rather, the equipment wasn't where he needed it. It was currently in transit to the desired locations, thanks to several connections he had within the criminal underworld. The smugglers he dealt with got the job done efficiently and with no noise. Plus, he paid them good money to not pass on word to other members of E.V.O what he was up to.

However, there was another problem. He'd been running a simple algorithm he'd created to try and predict the remaining coordinates based on however many combinations remained, cross-referenced with locations of any significance to E.V.O in general and Yorburg in particular. One prediction stuck out to him as the most likely, though he sincerely hoped that it was not in fact the true location. Yorburg would definitely have been insane enough to hide a vault there, and it was an excellent place to hide something from practically anyone. No one knew of the place, and everyone who did know of it would prefer not to be within a hundred miles of the godforsaken spit of land. Except Yorburg, if Rothstein's suspicions were correct. And oh, how he hoped they weren't.

Not that he didn't have the equipment for it, but even properly prepared, going to that island was practically suicide!

Rothstein shook his head. The whole Rio debacle, coupled with the anxiety of his race for the vaults was starting to become too stressful. He stood up and left the computer to keep working as he left to try and relax. Perhaps a glass of something stronger than coffee would do the trick. He walked over to his suitcase and rummaged around inside before pulling out a rather expensive bottle of whiskey and poured himself a rather generous glass. He really needed to calm his nerves.

As he took a sip from the dark liquid, he started contemplating his race against Augustus. He'd learned about him when Yorburg accidentally let it slip out when he was a bit tipsy. In addition to hoarding all of his scientific knowledge and discoveries to himself, Yorburg also zealously guarded any information about himself predating when he joined E.V.O. It was widely known that he had a familial connection to E.V.O and said family was filthy rich, but other than that, he was an enigma. And he maintained that lack of knowledge desperately.

Rothstein wasn't sure how many others knew of Yorburg's siblings or his nephew, but he had never let Yorburg know that he knew that much. That information was best used as leverage when the situation demanded it. Besides, Rothstein was keenly aware that Yorburg would have arranged for his untimely demise of he had ever let on how much he knew. However, after he did find out, he managed to dig a little deeper into Yorburg's life outside of E.V.O.

Yorburg had been the middle child of three, born to Leopold and Dahlia Yorburg. His elder brother was named Maximus and his younger sister was named Valerie. The family's history was already very interwoven with E.V.O, but Leopold had been vehemently against getting involved. Rothstein wasn't exactly sure why he was so against it, though it wasn't for some ideological reason. He had some sort of personal vendetta against them, though he wasn't sure what. Whatever it was, it made him a rather unpleasant person to live with. Unpleasant to the point where one of his children opted to murder him. Valerie took the fall for it and was currently locked away in an asylum, but Rothstein couldn't say for sure if it had been her. Yorburg had definitely been clever and unstable enough to carry out the deed, but that didn't discount the possibility that Maximus or Valerie hadn't been the ones either. There simply wasn't enough information.

Besides, shortly after Valerie's arrest and incarceration for treatment, all information about the Yorburg family and the case disappeared. Not that there had been much information to begin with. The Yorburgs had always managed to disguise how wealthy they were, playing themselves off as old money who never needed to work a day in their lives. In fact, they were very much near the top of the list of the wealthiest families alive. They stayed out of the public eye and never had any scandals to draw the eyes of the tabloids and press.

It was actually not too long after the murder that Yorburg formally approached E.V.O with the intent to join the organization. He'd begun treating his last name as his first and 'encouraged' everyone else to do the same. Maximus had vanished from the face of the earth and Valerie was locked away, leaving everything nice and tidy for Yorburg.

Until he let slip about Augustus. Augustus was the son of Maximus and a woman he'd met before the murder of Leopold, named Jeanne. He'd been named after Yorburg's grandfather, who had been an important political figure for E.V.O to control the world with, and had been visited by Yorburg in secret many times once he was of schooling age. Yorburg had molded the boy in his own image, hoping to make him his heir one day. Until he met his unfortunate end, that is.

It only made sense that Augustus would be the one pursuing the vaults. Yorburg would most certainly have shared their existence with his protégé, and would have probably had him registered as someone who could access them. However, he doubted that he would have just shared that knowledge without some sort of caveat. Be it some sort of challenge or other obstacle to overcome. If Yorburg was going to willingly part with a secret, it had to be earned.

Well, Rothstein could definitely say that Yorburg had picked his protégé well. He was three vaults up on Rothstein and undoubtedly had the coordinates to another. However, he had to be even more careful than Rothstein, as if E.V.O took notice that Yorburg's resources were being used to acquire equipment and travel around the world to old E.V.O sites, his existence would be revealed. Then he would be forced to either join E.V.O and/or surrender the vaults, or he would be forced to go on the run from them, which was not an easy task. Manageable, if one knew what they were doing, but definitely not easy.

Rothstein drained the last of his drink and set the glass down before returning to his computer. The coordinates had been decoded and it had confirmed his worst fears. He sank into the chair and rubbed his forehead as the weight of what he had just been wrapped in set it.

He shook his head and checked his inventory of equipment he'd been amassing for the last two years. He had everything he'd need for this little excursion, though he still wished he had some more weaponized vehicles. Then it occurred to him. There was a vehicle he COULD acquire for this outing that would drastically increase his chances of survival. He immediately opened an encrypted network and contacted a military contact about an top-secret experimental all-terrain combat vehicle; one with the firepower, terrain capabilities and just quiet enough to travel without garnering too much attention. If all went well, he would be able to acquire it within a day or two and be off to retrieve the vault before Augustus even reached the shores!

* * *

 _Three days later…_

"Okay, doc. I'm going to assume that you have a good reason for hauling me out of bed at 5:07 in the morning." Grey grumbled tiredly as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Graham was looking at him gravely.

"One of the many locations we keep our eyes on for possible MUTO activity is an island located in the South Pacific. Almost no one knows of it and those that do have good reason to fear it. It has perhaps the single densest population of MUTOs in existence." Graham began without preamble. Grey was much more alert now.

"Okay, I assume that your telling me this because we have to go there now, right?" Grey inquired. Graham nodded gravely.

"We keep the island under heavy surveillance to avoid anyone trying to sneak to the island and take one of the creatures, especially since E.V.O probably knows of it and would absolutely love to get their hands on the island's residents if they could. Anyway, we picked up two signals that indicated vehicles attempting to breach the storm that's perpetually hovering around the island, and it appears they succeeded." Graham continued. Grey tensed up.

"Two signals. You don't think…"

"It seems likely. You're leaving in an hour. Your team will be with you shortly and your equipment is already being packed. I've arranged for a military vessel to meet you on the outskirts of the island." Graham informed him. Grey nodded and began walking out of the room before Graham spoke again.

"Good luck out there. You'll need it on Skull Island."

* * *

 **So, how's that for a teaser?**

 **Seriously, we've been wanting to do a chapter on Skull Island for a while. The ideas have been piling up for so long that we might be looking at another chapter split! Its just SO EXCITING!**

 **Author: I'm back! And the studio isn't up in flames! That's a good sign. I trust Creativity took care of you all to our usual standard?**

 **Creativity: Nothing out of the ordinary, sir! Aside from a notice from the distillery that is, but that was easily taken care of.**

 **Author: Wonderful! Plus, that meeting went very well today. We'll be looking at some excellent studio upgrades in the future. Including a brand new deluxe Chair!**

 **Creativity: Say wha…**

 **Author: Well, I think that covers everything! See ya next week!**


	45. Vault on Skull Island

**Good day to you all! And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! We're off to Skull Island!**

 **Creativity: Enjoy the sun and sights as the local wildlife rends the flesh from your bones!**

 **Author: Are we writing a little opening bit, or are we running a travel agency?**

 **Anyway, I LOVED Kong: Skull Island. Absolutely loved it! So I naturally REALLY wanted to include Skull Island in this story. Like I said last time, I was kind of struggling to find the place I felt it would fit best in the story, but settled on putting it in the third season.**

 **Well, I suppose we should get on with it! I proudly present chapter 6 (s3)**

* * *

Rothstein had concluded that this was madness. Utter, utter madness.

He was currently maneuvering an experimental vehicle through the perpetual storm that hovered around the border of Skull Island. The vehicle itself was a top-secret military project that was codenamed the Omni-transport. It was built for three, though it could easily be piloted by one. It was a machine designed for travel over all types of land, through any lake, river or ocean, and the calmest skies to the most ferocious of storms. It was actually a much more advanced version of the bike that Augustus had been piloting before. The bike had also been a prototype, and a bit outdated at this point, though it was still far from outmoded.

Still, it wouldn't do Augustus any good in this weather. Rothstein grunted as he veered through a gap in the storm. Forks of lightning erupted on all sides as thunder continued to rock the vehicle. Then, it all broke away and the cabin was flooded with light as he escaped the storm and took in the sight of Skull Island.

It was beautiful in a primordial, almost threatening way. He could see a large flock of some sort of flying creature. It looked to be reptilian.

While E.V.O had managed to acquire all of Monarch's data on Skull Island, they had never dared to go there. Monarch kept it under too much surveillance for them to sneak in to study or gather samples. That still begged the question of how Yorburg was able to stash one of his vaults on that island. If he managed to stash one here without Monarch realizing, what else could he have done?

Perhaps those details would be contained within the vault. He rechecked the coordinates and found they were in the mountain ranges of Skull Island. Unfortunately, Monarch records noted that the island's most famous and fierce residents frequented that area. Hopefully they would be gone when he arrived. He dropped to a lower altitude and continued towards the mountain ridges, praying that he was ahead of Augustus for a change, and that the island ruler was otherwise engaged.

* * *

It was a rarity for Grey to question his sanity. This was one of those ever so special occasions. He was currently on board one of Monarch's more heavy-duty helicopters which was being thrown about in the Skull Island storms like a ping pong ball in a washing machine. He normally didn't get sick in planes of helicopters, but here he was; with his stomach busy performing an elaborate gymnastics routine. He wasn't the only one, however. The rest of the team's faces were also sporting fifty shades of green. Said team consisted of Sabrina and Emma, Ford. Ford and Emma were handling it better than Sabrina or Grey, but they still looked ill.

It felt like an eternity before they finally got through the storm and the helicopter leveled out. Never before had Grey been so grateful to see sunlight in all nineteen years of his life.

" _I hope everyone held their lunch through that."_ The pilot joked over the radio. No one was impressed and the pilot seemed to sense that.

" _Scanning for chemical trails or leads. If there's anything to find, we'll find it."_ The pilot announced. At the moment, Grey couldn't care less. He was just waiting desperately for his stomach to finally settle. It was several long minutes before the pilot reported back.

" _We picked up a trail of low level gamma radiation; probably from a vehicle. Tracking it now."_

By now, Grey's stomach had mostly settled. He hadn't felt that nauseous since that damn scorpion eating contest. He looked out the windows of the helicopter, finally able to appreciate the scenery. Or, what little he could see of it. The tiny windows, coupled with the speed of the helicopter made that a little difficult. What little he could see though, that took his breath away.

It was about five, maybe ten minutes later when the pilot reported in again.

" _The trail's still there, but I can't physically follow it anymore. You'll have to go the rest of the way on foot. I'll set you down as close as I can get."_ The pilot informed them. Grey felt the helicopter gradually lose altitude until it touched the ground. The team stood up and disembarked before having their breath stolen by the scenery laid before them.

It was an untouched, prehistoric landscape, filled with plant-life they had never seen before. They could see several flocks of avian creatures in the distance and what looked like some sort of ox creature lumbering across the plains. The majesty of it all was unparalleled.

However, they didn't have time to sight-see. Grey activated his headset and retrieved the scan data from the helicopter, allowing him to follow the trail left behind by Rothstein or the new player. It wasn't exactly clear which one was here first.

The trail did indeed lead towards a massive divide between two mountain ranges, which were separated by a river. According to his HUD, the trail was located heading straight into a mountainside. After everything Grey had been through with E.V.O, he immediately knew there was a secret entrance of some kind. The team immediately made their way to the rock face and began climbing. Ford and Emma were using climbing gear developed by Monarch, which featured a specialized safety line that could climb by itself, using a clawed wheel. It would move little by little and would anchor itself to the cliff face when its sensors detected its user could be losing their grip.

Grey and Sabrina were free-climbing up the cliff face, since their sheer strength made vertical climbing a cinch. Grey had morphed his hands into claws to allow for better grip on the various crags, as well as make his own if it was too smooth. Up ahead, Sabrina was also making her own handholds, but not with claws. Not natural ones anyway.

She had requested an upgrade to her gauntlets, adding claws that fit over her hands. The claws could channel thermo-nuclear energy to the very tip of the claws, giving them unparalleled cutting power. As they were though, they were excellent climbing tools. She was surging ahead of all of them, already halfway to the mountain. Grey frowned. He had initially wanted to keep her off this mission, but she'd 'insisted' on coming along. She was definitely the best hand-to-hand fighter they had and was second in experience only to Grey, and that it wasn't by much.

Still, she was still grieving the loss of her friend, who's death was the fault of those they were chasing today. He didn't want her going into another vengeance fueled rage, especially since almost everything that lived on Skull Island would hear it and come trying to kill them.

Grey shook his head and pushed those thoughts aside. He could worry about that if/when the situation arose. For now, he had to focus on getting up the mountain and finding that secret entrance. He was three quarters of the way up now, with Emma and Ford about five minutes behind.

Soon enough he reached the top, where Sabrina was searching through her pack for a roll of cord. Grey retrieved his own roll of cord from his pack and tossed it down to Ford. After Ford secured it to the harness for his climbing gear, Grey began hauling Ford up the cliff while Sabrina did the same for Emma, who was also lugging around that blasted sniper rifle.

Once they were all up the cliff, they took a moment to rest before they resumed tracking. Now that they were on top of the mountain, progress was much quicker. Soon they were above where the trail ended. It was a bit faded, but it was definitely there. With the proximity to it, Grey could sense it without use of the headset. Then his headset blared a warning. Something had appeared on the radar.

Grey turned to face the direction the blip was approaching from. It was an airborne vehicle. It looked like a tri-rotor copter of some kind, with a sealed cockpit. Additionally, it appeared armed, based on what looked suspiciously like cannons of some kind mounted on beside the cockpit. Grey and the others ducked down as it approached the cliff face and paused before the mountain began to rumble. Peering down, Grey could see the rock shifting away, making room for the vehicle to fly into the mountain. Once the vehicle and flown inside, Grey and the others began to make their way down the mountain as swiftly as possible. The mountain was closed by the time they reached it, but they could definitely see signs of where the entrance was. Grey set his gauntlets to cutting mode and began burning through the rock. It took a few minutes but eventually he had cut away a large enough gap for them to crawl inside.

Within the mountain there was a small hanger with a black corridor leading further into the mountain, but no evidence of the vehicle that had flown inside, which Grey found disconcerting. He and Sabrina switched to night-vision mode on their headsets, while Ford and Emma donned goggles with functionality that mirrored the headsets. Grey took another look around before stepped into the corridor, an unsettling tension settling over the team as they advanced into the shadows.

* * *

When Augustus learned of Skull Island, he knew his uncle would be fascinated with the place. However, he wasn't quite sure that his uncle would have the resources to hide one of his vaults here, though he most certainly had the spine. Thus, he was very surprised that the coordinates from the last vault led here. He'd taken the most robust and well-balanced flying machine he had access to in order to make it through the island storm. His other equipment was already more than adequate for surviving the terrain, so long as none of the island's residents managed to get inside or brought down his vehicle when he left. He wasn't worried about either. With the entrance sealed, nothing would be getting in until he returned with his prize. And if any of the island residents came after him, well… he had opted for an armed vehicle for a reason.

He continued advancing down the corridor. Unlike the previous three vault locations, this one hadn't been a former or active E.V.O facility that his uncle had commandeered for the purposes of guarding his vaults. Instead, this one had been excavated for the sole purpose of hiding the vault. Additionally, the only properly constructed section so far was the hanger that he had parked in. The rest of it had been roughly bored away with a large drill.

When he arrived in the bunker, he had engaged the vehicle's camo-mode in case his competition was following him again, so as to avoid sabotage. If he was caught here without a vehicle, he would be dead, and his uncle's last wish would go forever unfulfilled. He shuddered at the thought.

Augustus continued down the rough tunnel, trusting the equipment in his suit to guide him. He could feel the ground beginning to smooth and soon found that it was sloping up, ever so slightly. It was a paved pathway now. Up ahead, he could see dim lights. That had to be where the vault was.

Then, someone stepped into view. Augustus paused, and his lips pulled back in a snarl. Someone had beaten him here! He drew his weapon and activated the suit's built-in floodlights, revealing this interloper to be the same one he had encountered in Rio! He fired his gun, prompting the interloper to leap to the side. Augustus could see the vault in their undeserving hands. He shouted in anger and charged, firing more shots as he advanced! However, he was stopped when the interloper sprang from hiding and fired two blasts of their own, prompting Augustus to retreat for cover. While his suit may be incredibly strong, he didn't want to test it against another thermo-nuclear firearm. He deactivated the floodlights and made sure that his suit was set to combat mode. The mode was something that Augustus had added himself, after the events in Rio. It made maximum use of the HUD radar and the suit's ability to give an augmented view of the wearer's surroundings.

The firefight continued for a few minutes longer before Augustus noticed that his HUD was alerting him of a small group making their way towards the firefight. He cursed. The moment the shooting started, it would have alerted whoever was coming that there was obvious danger ahead. He ducked behind cover and looked down the hallway before letting out a string of his uncle's favorite curses. It was those blasted Monarch lackeys again. He primed his weapon and unleashed a barrage of blasts, prompting the Monarch team to leap away from the onslaught. All but one of them. They charged forward, leaping over the blasts as their fingertips began to glow purple. He could see that they ended with razor-sharp talons.

Before he knew it, the claws raked across his chest twice before was struck in the stomach, launching him down the passage! He landed not too far from the thief, who seemed torn between taking a shot at Augustus, or trying to make it past the Monarch team. Augustus took the moment to seize his firearm, which was nearby, and take a couple of shots at the thief. One of the shots grazed the thief's side, prompting them to shout in pain and clutch at their side before Augustus stood up and aimed the gun again. He was about to pull the trigger when he heard the sound of another thermo-nuclear weapon being fired and felt his weapon violently jerk out of his hand and fly down the passage! He could see that it was heavily damaged and cursed when he noticed that the cartridges for the gun were ruptured and about to explode! He took the opportunity to grab the vault from the floor and rushed to the front of the thief's vehicle, praying that it would withstand the blast. He could see the same Monarch lackey that attacked him earlier charging him again, but he wasn't worried. The cartridges were not even a moment from exploding.

A shockwave rushed past Augustus and launched his assailant away. The shockwave was almost immediately followed by a rush of electric blue fire. He expected the Monarch team to be vaporized, but he was sorely disappointed. His assailant and another were practically unharmed, but the two others weren't so fortunate. They seemed to have taken shelter behind some loose stones, which had kept them alive, but they were still covered with vicious looking burns and were obviously in no condition to move. The thief hadn't faired much better. They at least had better protection against the blast, but they also were sporting burns of a lesser degree, as well as shrapnel wounds. He rose to leave, but his assailant was already on top of him, swiping and punching at him. He ducked under the latest attack and grabbed a rock before swinging it around and smashing it against his assailant's head. This did little more than throw the Monarch dog off balance, but it was enough for him to make a run for it.

As he kept running, he could hear a faint rumbling and cracking. He cursed as he realized that the explosion had damaged the structural integrity of the tunnel and it was beginning to collapse! Suddenly, his HUD began blaring about a sudden rise in temperature. This was immediately followed by a sharp impact to his back, throwing him forward and to the ground. Thankfully, the vault remained undamaged. It was built to take plenty of punishment to safeguard its contents. Unfortunately, that was the least of his problems. The cracking was growing stronger and he could feel the mountain beginning to rumble! He rolled onto his back and began to sit up when he saw his assailant bearing down on him again, fists clenched. He rolled to the side as they drove their fist into the ground where he had just been. The damned fool was making the problem worse!

Thankfully, they seemed to have gotten their arm stuck, which made it a cinch to grab the vault and keep running. He was now panicking as the shaking grew stronger. His HUD began to indicate the heat signature again and he dropped to avoid it. Three short blasts rocketed past him and he cursed. That would only weaken it up ahead!

Fortunately, that was the last blast. For now, at least. He vaguely heard shouting behind him, but he ignored it. However, when he noticed that the tunnel was growing brighter from a light source behind him, followed by the roar of an engine, he knew not to ignore it and threw himself to the side as the thief's vehicle roared past! Augustus scrambled to his feet and kept running, signalling to his own vehicle to activate, as well as transmitting the code to open the hanger's secret entrance. Thankfully, the place was still relatively undamaged, and the doors were wide open. He clamoured into his vehicle and gunned the engine, erupting into the blinding sunlight like a bullet from a rifle!

And yet, that wasn't the end of it. He saw something large and brown hurtling towards him, causing him to swerve, narrowly avoiding a collision. He wheeled around and saw what appeared to be an enormous bipedal ape standing in front of the mountain, trying to swat Augustus out of the sky like an insect! There was a large flock of other creatures flying around amid the chaos, which was distracting as Augustus had to avoid getting pulverized by the ape, while avoiding having an avian creature getting caught in the turbines and destroying them, thus marooning him on Skull Island.

Snarling, he primed his vehicle's weapons and fired on the ape, prompting it to stumble back and cover its face with is arms. Taking the opportunity, Augustus wheeled around and shot off towards the island borders to escape this insane island, his thoughts not even remotely focused on the vault he had acquired.

* * *

There were few moments that Grey felt truly scared, but this was one of them. The last one had been Rio. There were moments of nerves to be sure, but nothing that approached true fear or terror. He was currently running for his life, carrying Ford in a fireman's lift while Sabrina carried Emma. Both were incredibly injured and to be brought to Monarch as soon as possible. Assuming they survived the cave-in, anyway.

If they weren't running for their lives, he would be giving Sabrina one hell of a shouting for losing her cool like that. He'd half-expected her to do something… rash, but her single-minded rage had made the situation exponentially worse by further weakening the structural integrity of the tunnel. Thankfully, he could see daylight ahead, but that still left a problem. How the hell were they going to get down the mountain without being pulverized?

Grey had an idea, but it was going to be painful. His hands became clawed as skidded to a halt by the entrance and jumped out, slamming his claws into the rock as he began to slide down the mountain, using his claws to control his speed. Then something crazy happened. He felt himself come to an abrupt halt and begin rising up, supported by something… alive. He then realized that he and the others were literally in the palm of something. And that something was a massive ape.

The ape was enormous. Not quite Godzilla sized, but close. It was covered in reddish brown fur and appeared to be some bizarre mix of a human and gorilla. Its colossal fingers curled as it lifted them to eye level and peered at them. Its brow was furrowed in anger and a rumbling growl emanated from its throat as its lips pulled back in a snarl.

Grey and the others had been told of the island ruler, but Kong was unlike anything Grey had seen before. And he'd seen a lot. However, it seemed that Kong became disinterested them and climbing up the mountain a ways before tilting his hand and letting them tumble to the peak. However, he was still keeping his eyes fixed on them, as if challenging them to do something. There was an intelligence behind those eyes. An old, primal one. Grey knew that Kong had dealt with humans from outside Skull Island and most of those experiences hadn't been kind ones. Still, he didn't seem intent on killing them. Maybe he was just making up his mind on whether he wanted to squash them or not.

When he heard Ford groan, he turned to look at him and felt his heart jump for a moment.

The damage was much worse than he had initially thought. Ford's face and arms were covered in black and red burns, as well as light bleeding. Several layers of his protective clothing had vanished. When he looked over at Emma, she looked possibly even worse. Even Sabrina hadn't gotten away unscathed. Her back sported several nasty burns and was bleeding slightly. Grey's skin had gone mostly reptilian by the time the explosion occurred, leaving him practically immune to the heat and radiation, but he suspected that if his skin had been human, he would have been worse off than Sabrina, as he'd been hit by the full force of the blast.

The sound of Kong shifting was enough to grab Grey's attention as he turned to see that Kong was looking around, a strangely human scowl on his face that soon became another snarl. He snorted and Grey saw why. The helicopter was approaching. Or at least, that was what he initially thought. The more likely culprit was whatever was crashing through the trees. It leapt out and began scrambling up the mountain with such blazing speed, that Grey almost couldn't tell what it looked like. However, he was able to get a closer look when Kong bellowed and leapt towards the creature, grabbing it by the neck. It was long and serpentine, with a narrow snout and hook-like teeth. It had sunken eyes, was incredibly skeletal and sported only two front limbs. Almost like it was the missing link between snakes and other reptiles.

Grey watched in awe as Kong began brawling with the creature across the mountain. He easily had the upper hand and soon killed the thing by breaking its neck.

So why was Grey still hearing the thing snarling? And why did it sound much closer...?

Grey turned to see another one of the creatures had crept up the other side of the mountain and was stalking towards them. Grey shouted as the thing lunged forward. He ducked under its jaws as they passed over him and snapped shut before springing up, driving both fists into its chin! It reared back, squawking in pain and confusion. Without thinking twice, Grey leapt onto its face and began charging up his gauntlet before driving his fist through the creature's eye and unleashing the blast. The creature shrieked and flailed its head from side to side, throwing Grey clear! He crashed into the mountain side and barely managed to get a grip before climbing back up to level ground. The creature was thrashing about, one of its limbs scratching at its ruined eye. Grey winced but felt no sympathy. This thing wasn't like the usual monsters he faced. This thing was a predator and viewed him as prey.

Eventually, it lost its grip and tumbled from the mountain. He could the surrounding jungle shifting, and he knew more creatures were coming. He could see the helicopter lowering the boarding ramp and hurried back to Ford, hauling him into his shoulder again. He saw Sabrina slinging Emma over her own shoulder. Together, they leapt aboard the helicopter and dusted off. They could see the creatures scrambling up the mountain, but Kong was there to meet them. He disposed of them with ease, as he was many times larger than them. Numbers didn't matter.

Grey would have kept watching, but he had to check Ford and Emma again. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sabrina glowering out the window. He once again resisted the urge to start shouting. Not until Ford and Emma received medical attention.

The trip out of the storm wasn't much better than the one in, but he didn't feel nearly as ill when they landed on the aircraft carrier outside. There was already a medical team outside and they began treating Ford and Emma immediately. Grey turned to Sabrina and caught her arm as she started to walk away.

"We're due for a loooong talk." Grey said in a low voice.

* * *

 **Well, I feel that went well! I originally envisioned it a bit differently, but this isn't the last we'll see of Kong. It also turned out longer than anticipated. I was wondering if there was going to be another bonus chapter in the future!**

 **Creativity: Nope! Not for this one anyway!**

 **Author: Some of the chapters I have lined up are gonna be dense enough to warrant that, methinks, but that just means more chapters for the story! Only a good thing!**

 **Only two chapters out from the midway break! I did a quick check again and since the break is gonna happen REALLY close to Christmas, I might do a special. MIGHT!**

 **It's not gonna be a bigger one, like the Summer Specials, but it'll be something. If I do it, that is. I don't have any idea what I would do for it.**

 **Well, I think that's enough of that! See ya next week!**


	46. Hard calls

**What do you mean the pipes are being replaced?! I specifically said that we couldn't… Yes, I told them that… Yes… WELL YOU TELL… oh, sorry, I'll have to call you back.**

 **Author: Sorry about that, there's just been a little mix-up with getting the B.T.I pipe system updated. I swear, when I get my fingers around…**

 **Ahem. Anyway, this is the official chapter 7 of our final season. We're going to get a liiiiitle bit more involved with Artemis this time around. See, I told you I hadn't forgotten about them. I just wanted them established early in the story.**

 **Anyway, these next two chapters are something I've had cooking up in the back of my head for a little while now, so I hope to do my mind justice and deliver them as envisioned.**

 **Creativity: Boss, the B.T.I is getting a bit full… should we…**

 **Author: Disable the pumps! Disable them now!**

 **I'll get back to you after this mess is cleared up. In the meantime (THE PRESSURE'S TO GREAT! OPEN THE EMERGENCY VALVES!) Here's chapter 7 (s3)**

* * *

Robert Keis was a wealthy man. A very wealthy man, in fact. One of the wealthiest in the world. He ran a multi-national conglomerate that generated enough money for him to own multiple manors and private islands, several personal aircraft and airstrips, almost anything he could ask for.

However, there was one problem he was faced with that he couldn't solve with his immense wealth.

"I'm afraid that the treatment is losing its effectiveness, sir. The disease is worsening." A doctor told him grimly.

Robert felt as if he was sinking into the hospital floor. He stood outside a hospital room, his face gaunt. There were bags under his eyes and his eyes were slightly bloodshot from lack of sleep.

"Is there anything left you can do? Anything to buy time." He pled. The doctor shook her head.

"There isn't anything left we can do. Right now, we estimate a few months left." The doctor informed sadly. Robert clenched his hands. No, he was close to a solution. He just had to find it fast.

* * *

Grey groaned as he stumbled off the helicopter and into the Vancouver facility. He hated Alaska detail.

He marched down the hallways to his personal quarters to get changed before sitting down at his laptop and opening a video conference with Dr. Graham.

"Well, it was much easier to find today. Its gotten bigger though, and more aggressive." He reported as he rubbed his side. Man, that thing hit like a truck.

" _This thing is starting to prove more of a nuisance to us as well as the residents of Alaska. I'll see if we can find something to make things a bit easier to catch it. In the meantime, check with Sam on our search for any leads on Rothstein. I'll send Ion with whatever details I find on my end."_

The call ended, and Grey stood up to go see Sam. He knew that Graham had told him to go see Sam for more than just checking for any leads. He was supposed to make sure Sam was okay, considering his dad was currently hospitalized due to the Skull Island disaster. He seriously doubted that Sam would be eager to speak to him, but he also doubted that Sam would be nasty about it. When they had spoken before, he didn't seem resentful towards Grey for the injuries his father had sustained, but he did make it clear that he was not in the mood to talk about it. Grey couldn't blame him.

When he arrived, Sam was busy sifting through information on his computer screen. Grey tapped him on the shoulder, prompting Sam to look up from his computer.

"Graham sent me to check in on any findings." Grey stated without preamble. He knew that Sam wouldn't be in the mood for any idle chitchat. Sam immediately turned his computer screen to face Grey a bit more and opened a file.

"I couldn't find anything useful on Rothstein, but I was able to dig up a bit on Yorburg. Specifically, his family."

He double clicked on one section of the file and expanded it. It was several old newspaper clippings, as well as some pictures.

"Turns out Yorburg's from an old-money family. Specifically, they were richer than a few small countries combined." Sam began before Grey interrupted.

"Okay, how can they have been that rich and we didn't find anything before?" Grey asked. Sam held up his hand.

"I'm getting to that. They were extremely reclusive and usually stuck to their oldest manor. They never had any media scandals, had any trouble with the police, not even a parking violation. They were as squeaky clean and under the radar as they could manage. There's only a few public photos and many records I found about them were only in passing. They also really downplayed their wealth, trying to appear less rich than they actually were. In essence, they did everything they could do to avoid knowledge of their existence without outright striking their names from history. And they were good at it too. Up until one incident that never made news, for whatever reason. Apparently, Geoffrey's (the Yorburg we dealt with) younger sister Valerie committed patricide and was placed in a mental institution while Maximus (the elder brother) and Geoffrey vanished shortly after. And all the case evidence vanished shortly afterwards. Also, most of this stuff would have been impossible to find without that A.I. so giver her some thanks" Sam concluded. Grey shook his head.

"It's a start. Send a copy of that to Graham and myself. I'll go over the other details later. Right now, I gotta go talk to someone. Oh, and I'll be sure to thank Ion later." Grey responded. With that, we walked out of the room. He was on his way down to the gyms when Gordon hurried up beside him.

"There you are! I've been looking for you all morning!" He exclaimed. Grey turned and looked at him questioningly.

"I thought I told you I was on Alaska detail for five days. I just got back about half-an-hour ago. What's the deal?" He asked. Gordon smacked his head.

"Right! Sorry, but one of the higher ups is looking for you and asked a few of us to find you. Oh, by the way, I've heard it mentioned a few times, but no one's bothered to tell me what Alaska detail actually is." Gordon informed, then asked. Grey groaned.

"Alaska detail is the worst. Basically, a non-human cross-species showed up there a couple of months ago, so we went to go deal with it. Turns out that the cross-species is a giant earthworm with bison horns and mane. The stupid thing keeps showing up, wrecking something and vanishing. Thus, we have Alaska detail. Someone goes out there for a few days to wait for the damn thing to show up, so we can catch it and get it out of there, but it keeps vanishing before we can get it." Grey explained/complained. Gordon looked at him quizzically.

"So, you spent the last five days waiting to fight an Alaskan Bul…" Gordon started before Grey interrupted him.

"Didn't you say you needed to find me for something?" He asked in an annoyed tone. Gordon smacked his head again.

"Right, sorry. You're supposed to go up to the big office. Apparently, there's someone important coming who you need to meet with." Gordon informed him. Grey groaned again.

"Why can't these things be scheduled in advance? Alright, I'll head up there."

Grey made his way up to the head office, where he was greeted by the man running the place. He looked like a textbook banker, with his impeccably unwrinkled and dust-free suit and his stony expression.

"I only just heard you were returning from Alaska detail. My apologies on the rush, but we have a last-minute guest arriving soon." The man stated.

It turned out that soon meant not even a few seconds later. Grey opened the door to reveal another man in an expensive suit. He had borderline military cut blond hair and slightly bloodshot blue eyes. The bags under his eyes indicated that he hadn't been getting much sleep lately. He kept fidgeting with his hands anxiously.

"I'm sorry for calling so last minute, but I'm afraid this can't wait. I need your help." The man said as soon as everyone was seated. Graham had joined them via conference call.

"Okay, lets back up a bit. Who are you, and what is so urgent?" Grey asked calmly. The man nodded.

"Right, right. My name is Robert Keis. I run a multinational conglomerate of various packaged goods, pharmaceuticals and technology research, just to name a few. Two years ago, almost to the day, my daughter was diagnosed with a genetic degenerative cell disease. We've been searching for a cure or treatment of any kind to save her, but we've only succeeded in slowing the disease down. I've had my companies searching for a cure of any kind, but we're running out of time. She only has a few months left." He said shakily. Grey could already guess where this was going.

"You're coming to us for help." Graham concluded. Robert nodded shakily.

"Yes. We've run out of time and options." He said. The way he said that told Grey that he was after Monarch specifically had, then felt a chill run down his spine. This was worse than that.

"Why not come to us sooner?" Graham asked. Grey could already hear the answer.

"I thought we'd find something before then, but with time so short, we can't afford to hope we'll find something in time." Robert responded before taking a deep breath.

"After we first heard about cross-species genetics, we thought that maybe, just maybe that could be the key to helping her. Since the disease is genetic, something that overwrites existing genetic code could theoretically solve the problem. Additionally, enhanced cellular regeneration could help repair the damage that the disease has already cau…"

"No."

Robert looked up at Grey, his face looking a bit confused as well as fearful.

"I'm sorry?" He asked.

"I am not condoning cross-species genetics as a treatment option. Especially anything pertaining to gen-1 cross-species genetics." Grey stated firmly. Robert looked even more worried now.

"Look, money is no object. I wouldn't have come here if I saw another way. The only thing we can think of now to save her is a blood transfusion from a gen-1. Please, I…" Robert continued, but Grey cut him off.

"Mr. Keis, listen to me. Meddling in that stuff is dangerous and always ends badly. Always. By all accounts, I was one of the luckier ones, but I still had to and still do deal with how those experiments changed me. I've also been lucky enough to cope really well with what happened, but I'm still changed fundamentally, and not just at the genetic level. I am NOT going to do that to someone else, no matter the circumstances." Grey stated.

"I kn…" Robert started, but Grey held up his hand.

"I'm not done. Even if it wasn't incredibly illegal to do so, there are to many things that could go wrong. Random, excruciatingly painful mutations, psychological damage and conflicting instincts leading to confusion and hysteria are only a few of the possible side effects, and that all assumes your daughter would even survive the procedure. Several gen-1s died during the initial mutations, and we were all selected SPECIFICALLY because our genes were best suited to handle the strain of the mutation. I am not going to allow that chance to be taken on someone else." Grey stated firmly. Robert was starting to look angry.

"You have the opportunity to save a life through simply donating blood, and you won't do so?" He asked with a hint of viciousness. Grey rose to his feet, and equally angry expression on his face.

"If you had listened to even a quarter of the reasons I just stated why I COULDN'T condone the donation of blood, then you would understand why I am refusing. I understand why this makes you angry or fearful, but don't you dare pretend you don't understand why I am telling you no." Grey shot back. His voice wasn't raised, but it carried a force to it that made Robert take a step back. He huffed and stormed out of the office and Grey collapsed into a chair.

"That was the right call, right?" He asked.

" _As gut-wrenching as it must feel, yes. I agree that you made the right call."_ Graham assured. Grey rubbed his forehead.

"Alright. I'm going to go talk to Sabrina. Give my regards to Ford, will you?"

Grey left the office and started making his way down to the gym. He still felt really broken up about the call he'd made just now. Still, he knew why he couldn't allow blood donation from himself or anyone else who had been there for the start of this madness. There were simply too many ways for it to go wrong.

Soon, he reached the gym. Inside, he found Sabrina busy beating up another punching bag.

She'd become much more withdrawn since he'd chewed her out for losing her cool the way she had on Skull Island. Afterwards, Graham had made the decision to keep her off missions until they were sure she had a handle on her anger. However, that led to her outright avoiding basically everyone who knew her on a first-name basis. Grey had tried speaking to her, but she'd avoided engaging in conversation and usually found ways to give him the slip.

It had been a week or so since Skull Island, and he'd let it go for about five days. Well, he'd been away for those five days, but still. He figured it wouldn't hurt to try talking to her again. Or it could hurt a lot. He doubted that punching bag would take much more.

He strolled in and waited until she was done with beating up the punching bag and went to grab a drink. He wasn't sure if she noticed he was there since she walked right past him. Well, that was a good sign. When she started heading back to the bag, Grey waved his hand. When she didn't acknowledge it, he groaned and stood up.

"Alright, this is getting ridiculous. How long to you intend to ignore me?" He called out. The response he got was the bag getting punched more. He knew he wasn't going to get any response today, but he was still going to talk.

"Look, I don't know why you're avoiding everyone and frankly, I'm starting to not care. Maybe your mad, embarrassed, just want to be alone, whatever. If you need it to deal with this, fine. We know rushing you through this will just make things worse and you need time. But I want you to know that regardless of how Skull Island ended, we still want you watching our backs. You're the best we got."

Grey stood up and left, though he could have sworn he heard a pause in the sound of fists striking the bag. He went back up to his room and lay down for a quick nap. He suspected that Graham would have something for him soon regarding the information they'd managed to dig up on Yorburg's past. Heck, by this point, she probably had sent people to see if they could speak to Valerie Yorburg. Though, he imagined that particular venture wouldn't be as easy as it initially sounded. In fact, it would probably meet opposition every step of the way, given their luck.

Why couldn't things just go smoothly for once?

* * *

 _Three days later…_

"I'm not doing it."

"Graham said you're up next. You volunteered before, remember."

"I am really not in the mood for this."

"Not my call. The doctor said, and I quote, _"I don't care how much of a mopey teenager she's acting like. We can't keep using the same two or three people. We need to introduce someone new."_ I told him it wasn't a good time either. But he does have a point about the 'introducing someone new' bit."

The argument had been persisting for about fifteen minutes Grey dragged Sabrina down to the 'rehabilitation wing' of the Vancouver facility. Not literally, though Grey wouldn't have been surprised if it did become literal soon. Unfortunately, there weren't any new volunteers for the 'rehabilitation process' that met the requirements for the program. Sabrina had been one of the few that did qualify but had been slated for later participation. Then Rio and Skull Island happened, thus forcing them to put this off. However, according to the man in charge, they weren't putting it off any longer.

However, there might be some good that came out of this. Hopefully. Provided that things didn't go sideways in a really horrible way. Grey started mentally pleading for things to go without incident.

"Okay, look. Just put up with the guy until we get through this meet-n-greet, then we can see about doing something about him. Deal?" Grey bargained. Sabrina's expression didn't change.

"Look, do you REALLY think that this is a good idea? Honestly? The last time we were all in the same place, we were beating the shit out of each other." She argued. Grey huffed.

"I honestly have no idea. But I will say that I've been to see her a few times now and there's been basically no incident. She's a good kid and I'm honestly starting to get a bit sick of seeing her boxed up. I promise she isn't going to attack you on sight." Grey assured. Sabrina didn't look like she'd changed her mind.

"Are you sure letting her walk around is a good idea either? Its going to be REALLY obvious she's a cross-species, she has basically no idea how the world works outside of her room, and she only barely knows how to have conversations with all of three people, including you. You plan on just sending her out into society with a pat on the back?" Sabrina jabbed in a tone that sounded almost joking. Grey rolled his eyes.

"Please. I just want to get her out of that room that she's been locked in for upwards of two years. Seriously, how she's not going stir-crazy is beyond me." Grey muttered. Sabrina rolled her eyes.

"Well, I imagine being borderline feral for at least half that time has something to do with it. Did I mention I reeeeeally don't want to do this?" Sabrina continued. Grey resisted the urge to add to the grumbling. Eventually, they made it down to the lab and were greeted by a man in a lab coat.

"Ah, good. You're here. I was beginning to wonder if you would show. Now then, head to the door please? Rose was told to expect someone today."

Sabrina dragged her feet all the way to the door. Grey walked over to join her. He figured it would be better if he was there for the initial meeting so that things went smoothly. Since he was the one who currently had the most interaction with Rose, to the point where she wasn't hiding the moment the door started to open, just to see who was coming in.

"Okay, since I'm actually going through with this, anything you want to tell me so that things don't go wrong?" Sabrina asked.

"Well, just let her do her own thing, mostly. She always keeps her distance, regardless of how well she knows you. Just try to treat it like a normal conversation.

After a few moments, the door slid open and they stepped inside. Rose had been sitting by the pond when the door opened. Her expression brightened before turning to the expression she wore when she wanted to hide.

"Hey! Thought I'd introduce you to one of my friends. Don't worry, she's harmless… Relatively." Grey greeted with a cheerful tone, though he tried to keep from being too cheerful. He had to be careful so as to make Rose nervous about Sabrina and being too cheerful would definitely give the wrong impression. He only added that last bit because he knew that Sabrina was shooting a look at him.

Rose still looked unsure but didn't make any move to run. Okay, they were off to a good start. Grey opted to keep his distance for the first five minutes while Rose and Sabrina got acquainted. Soon, they were having a perfectly normal (For Rose anyway) conversation, and Grey opted to let himself out of the room.

He stuck around for an additional five minutes in the observation room to make sure things didn't go sideways, and when things appeared to be going fine, he decided he was worrying over nothing and left to go check in with Graham regarding the continued investigation of Yorburg and Rothstein. They had managed to secure a brief interview with Valerie to question her about her brother, though it hadn't bore much fruit. Chances were that it was the number of drugs in her system to keep her sedated, but regardless, she had been only able to answer a small handful of questions and they had pointed them nowhere. The next place they had resolved to look was the old family mansion that Yorburg had lived in for most of his youth. It was one of the few pieces of property that they knew his family had owned. In addition to that, there was one other lead to chase down. One that seemingly had dropped off the face of the earth. The eldest of the three siblings: Maximus.

* * *

 _Two days later, in a skyrise office…_

It was dark and rainy that day. A man in an expensive three-piece suit stood in an office, surveying the ground below him. He saw a dozen black vehicles all pull up in front of the building, one at a time. From each one, someone dressed in business clothes stepped out of the vehicle with a black umbrella. They walked into the building, disappearing from view.

A few minutes later, an elevator dinged down the hall and a group of three stepped out and walked down a brightly-lit hallway to the large, lavish office. The man motioned for them to take a seat. Soon another group arrived, then a third. That was all of them.

The man turned around and looked at all of them.

"I called you all here because I have a very specific job. I want you to track down all of the gen-1 cross-species and obtain a sample of their blood. You will receive payment once we confirm that the blood you deliver is indeed that of our requested cross-species. I also will offer triple the reward for those who do so non-lethally. Additionally, the allotted time for the job is one month, starting tomorrow."

The large group looked at each other and all stood up before leaving. The man sat down in his chair. The die was cast. Now he had to hope that this gamble would pay off.

* * *

 **Oh, mister Keis. What are you doing?**

 **Author: This is the second to last chapter before we go on break, and I imagine you know what's coming up next.**

 **Creativity: Oh, this isn't gonna be pretty, is it.**

 **Author: No comment. I also wanted to start fostering a relationship between Sabrina and Rose, since I feel like that will be rather important for what comes later.**

 **So, by the time this publishes, I'll probably be getting ready to publish the second wave of my Venom story, given my current pace on that. Also, I'll have seen the new animated Spider Man movie by then, so that'll be cool. Or, it will have been cool. I hope it was/is/will.**

 **If I keep digging this rabbit hole, this chapter will never end. See ya next week!**


	47. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

**GREETINGS ALL!**

 **Author: So, you may be wondering why I'm uploading this AN today. And the reason for that is, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! And to celebrate my birthday, I'm putting up a sampling of a few stories I've been working on for a while. To be specific, one of the stories I upload will be the story that becomes my primary focus after the conclusion of A Very Bad Idea.**

 **Creativity: And YOU get to decide which one it is!**

 **Author: That's right! I will be posting a poll time as the samplings go live so you can all provide me with direct feedback regarding which story you want to see more of first! Also note that these samplings are not the finalized versions of the story (Some of them began three years ago, when I was just getting the hang of writing a decent story, thus they aren't quite up to standard), and can be revised and streamlined by reader input, so TELL ME AS MUCH AS YOU CAN ABOUT THEM! It'll mean the making of a better story!**

 **The following stories are what you can choose from:**

 **Kingdom Hearts: Beyond Time**

 **A story that details the very origins of the Realm of Darkness, the Heart of All Worlds and its counterpart: The X-blade itself.**

 **Ragnarok:**

 **A HTTYD/Flash and Thor(sorta) crossover, detailing the end of the nine realms and how Berk and its allies survived and went on to thrive.**

 **Star Wars: Twilight Blade**

 **A remake of my first/only Star Wars story (set adjacent to the Rebels TV show), now with a much more polished vision in mind. Follow as a Jedi Padawan is set on a path to rediscover an ancient Force order and become the latest to take up a mantle first held by the creator of first Force-imbued weapon.**

 **Author: Have a read of the samplings and let me know which one you want to see first. Personally, my money's on Kingdom Hearts, what with Star Wars currently sitting in scalding hot water and Ragnarok being so crazy and out there.**


	48. Weariness

**Alright, here we are at the half-way point. As of this writing, I am concluding my first week back at college. I took a week-long break after I finished up the previous chapter since my brain was screaming for a break, and because I was hashing out a few ideas for a side-project. Plus, mild homework to start, getting back into routine, etc.**

 **Creativity: Plus, an idea for a little Christmas surprise was hatched!**

 **Author: That's a maybe, to be clear. As of this writing anyway. Chances are that I'll do it, but I'm not certain.**

 **Also, I heard from a couple of people that were wondering where Rose's younger siblings are. They're around, but they aren't very important right now. If end up following through on that idea for a Rose solo series, they'll definitely show up in that.**

 **In other news, I'm also hashing out ideas for a proper original novel! Well, a couple of ideas actually, but one in particular. I've had a few site-goers tell me I should write my own novel, but I initially brushed off the idea, mainly since I was more than comfortable with writing stories for existing properties, as most of the heavy-lifting was already taken care of and felt I didn't have any particular new ideas to bring forward. Also, I felt most of my stories were already borderline original works to begin with (insert pointed joke that boils down to "Oh, you think you're so smart and special, don't you?"). However, the idea kept floating around in the back of my brain and now I actually DO have one or more ideas I feel like sharing with the world.**

 **No details, and there won't be for a LONG time.**

 **Well, that's enough of that. Here's the mid-season chapter for A Very Bad Idea (s3)!**

* * *

Simon yawned as he walked to his car. It had been some time since he'd gotten a proper vacation from his job at Monarch, and he'd opted to spend it with his family. They lived just outside, about twenty minutes from the Monarch campus. He'd been working late these last few days to ensure that there would be no interruptions during his time away. Not ridiculously late, but late all the same.

He climbed into his car and began driving home. He was almost out of the city, driving along a quiet stretch of road when something hit the hood of his car. It was domed and had a flashing blue light. Simon's eyes widened as he concluded that the device was an explosive of some kind. He was half right.

The flashing light became solid and the device suddenly snapped open and electricity began to rush over the car! All of the lights on the dash, the headlights, everything began to flicker brightly before everything went out simultaneously. Simon threw open the car door and jumped out, wishing he had some of his Monarch gear on hand. Immediately, his body began to charge an EMP of his own, illustrated by his insectoid finger beginning to glow, as well as his insectoid eyes. He'd found that the EMP also increased his striking power, though didn't really increase his strength.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp, stabbing sensation all over his back! He reached back and felt something embedded in it. When he pulled it out, he found it was some sort of dart. His vision began to dim, and he staggered a bit before collapsing to the ground. He was still barely conscious as he heard footsteps quickly approach before he felt something jab into his back. Then came a sensation like his innards were being sucked out through a tube. It felt horrid. Finally, the sensation stopped, and he heard the footsteps retreating, just before he blacked out.

* * *

Grey yawned as he sat up. Considering the run of bad luck they'd had, things seemed to be doing better. Sabrina and Rose had hit it off really well, as evidenced by the fact that Sabrina was visiting Rose every other day. It seemed to be helping Sabrina as well, however minutely.

As he got dressed, Grey's phone started buzzing. He grabbed it and went to put on some coffee.

"This is Grey, who is it?" He said, a hint of sleepiness still in his voice. He paused as he went to grab the coffee pot as his eyes widened in shock.

"He's what?!" Grey shouted before grabbing a jacket and rushing out the door. He hung up and immediately called Graham. She was probably already appraised of the situation, but it was still a good idea to make sure.

" _Graham of Monarch."_ Graham answered.

"Hey, it's Grey! I just got a call saying Simon's in the medical wing of his campus!" Grey exclaimed as he hurried up to her office. He'd rather discuss this problem with her in person.

" _Wait, what?! Why wasn't I informed of this!?"_ She half shouted. Grey felt a mild amount of sympathy for whoever she was going to question about being left out of the proceedings on this.

"Contact the other gen-1s on campus and tell them to head for your office. Also, make sure every gen-1 knows about this. I doubt that it was coincidence that a gen-1 was attacked." Grey instructed as he made his way to the elevator.

A couple minutes later, he was joined by Sabrina, who looked somewhere between shocked and livid. Grey would by lying if he said he felt different.

Soon enough, they reached Graham's office. She was waiting inside, talking with someone over the phone. Well, more like shouting. They let her keep shouting for a little while longer and were soon joined by Jack and Ben, who had been visiting as guest instructors for some of the younger cross-species.

"Hoped to be visiting under better circumstances." Jack muttered as Graham noticed them outside and beckoned them in. They filed in and Graham sat down, now looking much more worn out.

"So, it turns out that Simon isn't an isolated incident. All within the last few hours, ten cross-species have been hit. None of them are dead, but they were all found unconscious with numerous tranquilizer darts stuck in them. The doctors are checking them for any further injury, but they haven't found anything yet." Graham informed them, leading to more shock. Grey rubbed his temples, trying to think.

"Okay, obviously this is more than a coincidence, considering that's close to a quarter of Gen-1 cross-species. Someone is targeting gen-1 cross-species specifically. The fact that all these attacks were carried out within a few hours means this was carefully coordinated. Any word on the darts they used? The drug, the darts themselves, maybe something like rifling marks, anything?" Grey asked half-heartedly. Graham turned back to her computer.

"I'll che…"

" _Allow me."_ Ion's voice suddenly cut in, making everyone jump a little.

"Ion, by Godzilla's bones, could you PLEASE not scare us like that?!" Grey requested in a rather cross tone.

" _I'm not quite sure how, but I'll consider it. Anyway, give me a moment…"_ Ion instructed before going silent for a minute or so.

" _Alright. So, the darts are serious business. Their a couple of steps beyond military grade and made for dropping targets as quickly as possible, while minimizing the possibility of death. As for the chemicals used, those are also a real piece of work. Aside from the fact that they could put a silverback gorilla to sleep, they also cost a fortune to acquire."_

Graham stroked her chin as she considered the information.

"So, whoever is carrying out these attacks is paying for some high-end equipment. Ion, can you identify the manufacturer of the darts? We can try talking to them and see if we can track down a few of their customers." Graham requested.

" _Already on it. And… there we are. They're an arms manufacturer (unsurprisingly) who primarily deal in specialized ammunition, hence the darts. They're often contracted by the military for their more destructive stock, but the darts do make significant sales. Huh. They also have a list of high profile clients on their website… Oh, well this is rich. The second entity on their list is Artemis."_

"Wait, what?!" Grey exclaimed. Artemis had been a pain for a while, constantly getting in the way when they tried to capture any non-human cross-species that blundered into a populated area and trying to take Monarch to court over every non-human cross-species Monarch DID manage to secure before Artemis arrived. Now there was the distinct possibility that they were targeting them.

"Unless they've been using more… permanent means of capturing cross-species, it has to be the darts they're buying. Plus the fact that we already suspect a connection to E.V.O. is supported, since they would have a list of all Gen-1 cross-species. Okay, I need you to send me a copy of everything you can get your hands on that paints them in a bad light and I'll go have a little chat with them. Also, keep us all updated on the ones who were hit." Grey instructed before standing up.

"Also, this probably goes without saying, but everyone watch your backs. Whoever organized these attacks probably isn't looking to stop." Grey added before everyone left. Grey went back to his housing, finished his breakfast and started getting ready to pay a visit to Artemis when he bumped into Graham in one of the hallways as he made his way up to the helipad.

"Something feels strange about this. Specifically, Artemis' potential involvement." Graham muttered as they kept walking down the hall.

"Why would they just start attack Gen-1s like this? It's almost too obvious it's them." Graham thought aloud. Grey mulled the information over in his head.

"You think someone's trying to set them up?" Grey asked. Graham rubbed her head.

"It's certainly possible, but why wouldn't they just go after cross-species in general? Why Gen-1s specifically?" Graham pointed out. That was a good point. Why Gen-1s specifically?

"Well, we still need to pay them a visit. It could be that some of their employees are carrying out the attacks without the higher-ups knowing about it. Being told that all current information regarding the attacks points to them, however circumstantially, as well as the fact that we will be conducting further investigations might be enough to pressure them out into the open, if they work for Artemis at least." Grey argued. Graham nodded.

"True. Even if we suspect a connection to E.V.O, they're still a UN sanctioned organization and that can't be ignored. Hopefully this will at least spark an internal investigation. In the meantime, I'll have Ford speak to the manufacturers of the darts. Maybe that'll give us some more leads." Graham responded as they reached landing for the helipad.

"Well, I guess I'll see you in a few hours. I had Ion call ahead to let them know I'm coming. Oh, and again, let me know the second one of the wakes up." Grey asked before heading out to the helicopter. One way or another, Artemis was going to help them solve this.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Riya, known to her cross-species friends as Click, was hurrying through the streets of Kolkata towards the nearest Monarch Campus. She'd heard that Simon was injured and had been admitted to a hospital a few hours ago. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to check her phone for a couple of hours, but the moment she got the message she started making her way to the campus. She was about fifteen minutes away now and she was running as fast as she could.

She rounded a corner and kept on her way, but then she saw someone up ahead, holding what looked like some sort of a baton. She slowed down a bit and went to move around them, only for them to move to intercept her!

Click skidded to a stop, just in time to avoid the baton, which was now sparking with electricity, and jumped back to avoid another swing. She drew back her own fist and swung, only for her opponent to bend out of the way. She felt something strike her in the small of her back and felt an electric shock, causing her to stumble. She whirled around and saw another person standing behind her, also holding a shock baton. Click gritted her teeth and slammed her fist into the ground, causing a localized EMP. The shock batons sparked a few times before shutting down. Click spun around and kept running down the street. She made it a good twenty feet before she felt something hit her in the shoulder! She reached back and pulled out some sort of dart. She suddenly felt woozy and another dart struck her in the back, followed by a few more. She stumbled and felt herself grabbed by the arms and dragged off the street. She felt her shirt being lifted before something was jabbed into her back. Whatever it was punched right through the insectoid carapace on her back, causing immense pain. She yelped, despite the fact she was almost unconscious then was dropped unceremoniously on the ground.

She couldn't tell if it was a few moments, minutes or hours, but she heard the sound of an ambulance. Then, her consciousness slipped away.

* * *

 _At Artemis Headquarters…_

Grey calmly walked through the front door of Artemis and up to front reception.

"Hello, I was supposed to meet with Angela Stone." Grey told the receptionist.

"Could you be a bit more specific?" The receptionist asked him in a monotonous tone without looking up from his computer.

"Grey, representative of cross-species to the UN, and ranking member of Monarch's cross-species containment force. I'm meeting her in regard to potential links between your organization and a number of recent attacks on humanoid cross-species." Grey responded in a clipped tone. The receptionist looked up in surprise and began rapidly typing on a keyboard.

"Oh, my apologies! I'll let Angela know you're here. Take the first elevator to the left of reception. It'll take you straight up to her office." The receptionist told Grey, who nodded and thanked him before walking into the specified elevator.

The atmosphere in the elevator could best be described as tense as he approached the top floor. Even though he counted it extremely unlikely, he was still concerned that he was walking into a trap of some kind. Especially if Stone was a part of E.V.O like they suspected. Still, they needed answers and Artemis could provide them, one way or another.

A minute or so later, the elevator doors opened to a spacious office that sported two bookshelves from floor two ceiling on either side of the office, a massive desk near the windows at the back, and a couch on one side of the wall. Sitting at the desk was Angela Stone.

"Ah, you're here. Come in. I do believe you had something to discuss with me?" Angela said in an even voice. Grey walked into the office with an air of caution before taking a seat.

"Yes, we do have something to discuss. As our other representative said over the phone, roughly twelve hours ago ten and counting gen-1 cross-species were attacked and hospitalized. All the cases so far point to equipment and individuals with specific skills that line up with the containment personnel of your organization." Grey began without preamble, making doubly sure to keep an accusatory tone out of his voice. Stone leaned forward.

"I trust you are not accusing Artemis of carrying out hits against humanoid cross-species? Our focus is purely on containing non-humanoid cross-species." Stone responded with a hint of an edge. Grey calmly laced his fingers together.

"No. I nor Monarch believe that Artemis is carrying out the hits, but unfortunately, the evidence is pointing towards members of your containment units. I merely wanted to bring forward the possibility that perhaps a few employees are doing a bit of… moonlighting. We already dispatched someone to meet with the manufactures of the darts you use, as well as the arms manufacturer you contract to find out who else might be involved. I believe a file was sent to you as well, detailing what information we can share about the hits, as a show of good faith, and to ask if you or anyone else within your organization can offer any alternative suspects." Grey continued.

Angela looked contemplative for a moment before tapping on her desk a few times, causing an image to be project above it!

"Holo-projection tech built into your desk? Pretty impressive." Grey complimented. Angela paid it no mind.

"I went over the file briefly before you arrived and didn't think much originally. However, I do see what you mean about elements of the attacks having potential links to Artemis. I can't offer any alternative suspects, but our deployment officer, Jackson Morgon might. I'll call him up." Angela offered before picking up a phone that was sitting beside her computer monitor.

"Yes, Jackson? Good. I need you in my office immediately… Thank you." She put the phone down and turned back to Grey.

"He'll be up in a few short moments. In the meantime, can't any of the victims shed some light on the matter?" Angela asked. Grey shook his head.

"None of them have regained consciousness, probably because of the sheer amount of tranquilizer darts they were hit with. All we know is who's being attacked and how." Grey responded. The conversation was interrupted when the elevator dinged, and a man stepped out.

"Ah, Jackson. Thank you for coming. Our guest here came to us with a situation that we thought you might be able to help with." Angela informed Jackson, who tilted his head inquisitively.

Grey brought Jackson up to speed on the situation, the evidence that was pointing at Artemis and Grey's personal belief that Artemis as an organization wasn't responsible, before asking him to look over the file Monarch had sent to Angela. Jackson looked everything over and rubbed his chin.

"I don't know about the moonlighting possibility, since we don't have any records of missing equipment or undue shortages of tranquilizers, but I do have another possibility. Granted, there isn't any evidence, but those on our containment force come from a wide array of backgrounds, including several former mercenaries. More successful ones would definitely have enough money to afford the darts. As for who would hire them to go after cross-species, I can't answer." Jackson suggested. Grey rubbed his brow.

"Well, that's at least something. Thank you for your time." Grey responded as he stood up and walked to the elevator. At least the trip hadn't been a total waste. Angela didn't betray anything and seemed rather open about the whole case. That didn't clear them of suspicion, but Grey still had a nagging feeling that it was someone else.

As the elevator arrived at the main floor, Grey stepped out and started walking to the door, contemplating Jackson's suggestion that the attacks were carried out by hired guns. But who would hire someone to hospitalize gen-1 cross-species specifically? What did they have to gain from this?

The Grey stopped in his tracks. How could he have been so stupid?! Of course there was someone who would go after gen-1s! And he knew them by name!

Grey yanked his phone out of his pocket and contacted Graham immediately, rushing out the door.

" _Grey? How did the meeting with Arte…"_

"Doc, I figured it out! I know who's…" Grey started to explain before he felt something hit his shoulder. He looked over and saw a dart stuck in it and immediately began to feel its effects.

"Dammit, I'm next! Graham, the attacks are for collecting blood! Blood! The bil…" Grey managed to say before more darts hit him, causing him to drop his phone. He turned to run away but was dragged into a back-alley and felt his jacket and shirt lifted from his back and felt something jabbed into his back. He swung his arm in vain to try and beat away the attacker but was only rewarded with more tranquilizer darts. Even as he fell unconscious, he could feel blood being drawn out of his body before he was dumped unceremoniously on the ground.

* * *

 _Back at Monarch…_

"Grey? Grey?! Grey, are you alright?! Dammit!" Graham cursed before hanging up and called for Ion.

"Grey's been attacked! Trace his phone's location and contact the authorities closest to him!"

" _On it!"_ Ion announced before doing just that, while Graham started trying to piece together what Grey was trying to say about the other attacks before he vanished. He said they were taking blood. Why would they be taking blood from cross-species? Aside from the obvious, of course.

E.V.O wouldn't be collecting blood, since they would doubtlessly still have that information on standby. So, who else would want to be collecting cross-species blood?

Then it hit her. How could she have been so blind? The answer had practically been staring her in the face this whole time!

Graham contacted Ion again, who now seemed a bit irritated.

" _I'm trying to conta…"_

"Never mind that! What hospital is Robert Keis' daughter currently admitted in?!" Graham asked manically.

* * *

Robert Keis stood in the hallway nearest to his daughter's room. He was getting anxious. He was told that his scientists had found an ideal match and the blood was being transported to his daughter via a blood delivery truck. He started pacing out of nervousness when he noticed someone approaching him in a business suit. It was one of his 'hires'.

"We may have been found out." The mercenary stated. Keis looked at him with shock.

"How?!" Keis demanded.

"It seems that Grey kid put two and two together. You did go to them to ask for a donation, right? And after that didn't work out, you turned to us." The mercenary summarized. Keis cursed.

"Did you knock him out before he could contact anyone?" Keis demanded. The mercenary shook his head.

"We managed to shut him up before he could out you specifically, but he did tell them about the blood thing." The mercenary finished. Keis ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

"Okay, we're fine. The match is already on its way, they can't interfere now. Monitor incoming calls and emails, keep the rest of the hospital staff not in my pocket unaware." Keis ordered. The mercenary nodded and walked back down the hall. Keis ran both his hands through his hair in anxiousness. This was going to work. It had to work.

Grey's eyes shot open. He was lying on a hospital bed and felt really woozy. As he looked around, he noticed that his surroundings were quarantined off. He slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position and rolled his shoulders, feeling the joints pop. Someone pushed their way in and he saw that they were wearing a HAZMAT suit. They seemed to start when they noticed he was sitting up properly.

"You shouldn't be awake…" The said, seemingly dumbfounded. Grey groaned and moved to get off the table when he was grabbed and forced back onto the bed.

"You need to take it easy! The other cross-species only started waking up an hour ago!" The HAZMAT person said. Grey's eyes widened.

"The attacks! Blood collection!" Grey suddenly blurted out. Another someone walked in, only they weren't in a HAZMAT suit. It was Barry, who hurried over.

"Don't worry, we know. Graham sent word to the authorities and they're going to put a stop to this. Sabrina's tagging along." Barry assured.

Grey groaned and shrugged the HAZMAT person off and got to his feet, his dizziness clearing.

"That won't be enough. Keis has to have those mercenaries on guard duty. I wouldn't be surprised if they're smuggling one of the stolen blood samples in there as we speak!" Grey argued as he started looking for the way out, only for Barry to grab him firmly by the shoulder.

"Look, even if you were in any condition to go out there, we're three hours from the hospital Keis' daughter is being kept in by helicopter. Relax. Sabrina can handle a few mercenaries, and the police will be joining her. Besides, you aren't in any condition to help." Barry assured, then admonished him. Grey cocked his head to the side.

"What do you mean? I feel fine." He rebutted. Barry shook his head.

"You've got serious gamma deficiency. After you were knocked out, your body began burning through your gamma reserves for some reason. Given how quick you woke up, it was probably your body using the gamma radiation to burn the tranquilizer out of your system. Why do you think we quarantined you like this? You were turning the room into a radioactive hotspot."

"Huh. I guess that explains the HAZMAT suit." Grey muttered as he reluctantly got back onto the hospital bed.

"We just to wait for our people to arrive to run a few tests and replenish your gamma reserves. Then you can probably make it in time for the formal arrest." Barry joked. Grey grumbled as several Monarch doctors arrived with some specialized equipment and set about with the poking and prodding that came with gamma deficiency. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long, and he could get out of here and give Keis a couple of black eyes for this absolutely bone-headed move.

* * *

Sabrina marched through the hospital, heading for the room that reception had told them housed Keis' daughter. They hadn't encountered any mercenaries yet. They probably vacated the building once it became clear that Monarch itself was getting involved and were not screwing around. Still, she had brought her clawed gauntlets along as a precaution. As soon as she reached the stairwell, she leapt from one landing up to the next until she reached the desired floor and threw open the door and advanced down the hallway. She could see what looked like security personnel at the end of the hall and she flexed her fingers in anticipation of a fight.

Robert Keis watched with bated breath as he watched the transfusion begin. Additionally, he watched the monitors, which were still showing life signs, but they were noticeably dimmer than a week ago, and definitely worse than the week before that.

Soon, the transfusion was nearly complete. Keis' eyes widened as he saw the vitals on the monitor improving rapidly! He couldn't believe it! It was working! His daughter was being cured!

Then the vitals started spiking. Then he turned to see his daughter, who was tossing and turning in obvious discomfort. He approached and saw her eyes snap open as she screamed. One of her eyes had turned reptilian and her teeth had turned triangular and sharp! Keis backpedaled into the wall as his daughter convulsed and screamed in pain, tumbling to the floor. Keis watched in horror as his daughter began to change, right before his very eyes.

* * *

The moment Sabrina heard screaming, she knew she had to be close. She picked up her pace as she heard the screaming grow louder. Soon, she was three doors down from the source. She heard shouting, followed by crashing, then a loud _BOOM_ _!_

Sabrina's heart dropped when she saw what had happened. Keis' daughter had just broken through the door and was clutching her head in pain. Sabrina could see almost a spiderweb pattern of scales on her skin, some places having larger patches than others. A large stripe of scales ran over her face, almost like a burn scar. The eye within that stripe was yellow and reptilian, filled with pain and confusion. Her eyes focused on Sabrina for a moment, almost looking pleading for a split second, before erupting into another fit of screaming and thrashing. Sabrina rushed forward and seized the new cross-species and attempted to restrain her, only to be thrown off. Sabrina cursed herself for underestimating the girl's new strength. She obviously would express no restraint with the pained and confused state she was in.

Sabrina rushed forward again, tackling Keis daughter and trying to pin her, only for the thrashing to throw her off again.

"I need to slow her down somehow…" Sabrina muttered as she rose to her feet again, resisting the urge to charge her gauntlets. Instead, she clapped a few times to keep the girl's attention focused on her. As much as she could, anyway. With how disjointed her thoughts were from the sudden mutation, along with how haphazard the mutation was carrying out, she would be unable to focus on anything for some time. Sabrina rushed forward and pulled the girl into a bear-hug, pinning her arms to her sides. Of course, this only prompted more thrashing. Sabrina growled and struggled to keep her under control.

Sabrina felt the struggling die down but didn't think for a second to loosen her grip. Then she noticed a nurse round the corner and see the struggle between Sabrina and Keis' daughter and stood dumbfounded.

"Get me something to knock her out with! Quick!" Sabrina shouted as the girl started thrashing again. Sabrina tightened her grip, refusing to let her wriggle free again. Fortunately, it wasn't long before the nurse returned with a rag and chloroform. Once it was prepared, the nurse rushed forward, only to be kicked back by the girl. Luckily, Sabrina managed to catch the rag and clapped it over the girl's mouth, holding in place until the thrashing lessened then ceased.

Sabrina picked up the girl in a bridal lift and turned to leave, only to see Robert Keis stumbling out of the room.

Sabrina's immediate urge was to march over to him and punch him in the nose with only enough restraint so as not to kill him. However, the weight in her arms prompted her to instead walk out of the hallway, contacting a containment vehicle from Monarch. Robert tried to follow but only collapsed, unable to walk any further.

Sabrina marched out of the hospital and straight to the vehicle, wherein she promptly placed the girl in a containment pod and slumped against the side of the vehicle. What hell of a two days they'd had.

* * *

 _Three days later at a Monarch Campus…_

" _Completely irreversible. Additionally, she's still in a state of panic and confusion. We've placed her in a sensory suppression environment to see if that prompts any improvement. In the meantime, we'll monitor her closely."_

Grey and Graham both looked completely worn out. The doctor who had delivered the news about Keis' daughter left the video conference, leaving just the two of them. Grey leaned back in his chair.

"How's the lawsuit against them Robert going?" Grey asked as he rubbed his forehead. Graham sighed.

" _It's coming along, but it'll take time. I need to take care of some paperwork regarding that, actually. So, I'll take my leave. I suggest you get some rest. With all that's been happening, you look like you need it."_

Grey simply nodded and signed off. He could do with some rest. As he approached his bed, he thought back to the recent events that were draining him. With the resurfacing of Rothstein, the new player who was competing with Rothstein for some sort of cube, the recent attacks and the recent breach of cross-species law, he needed to rest.

He really, really needed to rest.

* * *

 **Whoooooooo boy. This took WAY longer to write than I thought it would. Still, I'm glad I got it finished. Now, we'll be breaking until about the end of January or the end of February. I'm not sure which, since it'll depend on how well stocked my backlog is. On the plus side, I'm gonna do another Christmas special! It's just gonna be one chapter, but I think you'll enjoy it. Plus, I'm gonna start loading the bases a bit more for a project I've been working on in the background of my more recent stories.**

 **Creativity: Feet hurt… No more…**

 **Author: Yeah, go soak 'em in hot water for a while. Heck, use the jacuzzi if you want.**

 **Alright, I think that covers just about everything! I hope you have a wonder weekend! See ya on Christmas!**


	49. The Eggnog Crisis

**T'was the night before Christmas, when a good guy in red, was invading the studio, with his new sidekick: Fred.**

…

…

…

 **Author: Why are you here, why am I tied up, why is a bound and gagged Fred Savage with you, and why are you cribbing from your own trailer?!**

 **Deadpool: Oh, well considering I'm making my PG-13 retelling of Deadpool 2 a holiday movie via marketing and release date, I figured I'd also drop in to make your own Christmas special all the merrier!**

 **Author: What happened to all that anti-Deadpool Security I added the last time you were here?!**

 **Deadpool: Oh, I got Domino to help me with that! I'm starting to come around on luck being a superpower… Nahhhhhh.**

 **Author: Creativity! We need to activate the pest control!**

 **Deadpool: Oh, oh that's a shame since…**

 **Creativity: MMMMM! HMHMHMHMMH!**

 **Deadpool: Yeah, I bound and gagged him too. Don't worry! This Christmas Special is gonna be even better with me and Fred here!**

 **(Fred looks mildly scared, but mostly frustrated)**

 **Author: Right, fine… VOICE COMMAND ANTI-DEADPOOL SUPERSUIT, CODE CHRISTMAS!**

 _ **Ground begins to rumble as the Author's bonds break and a giant, festive colored mech suit rises from the floor. Author jumps in and grabs the controls)**_

 **Author: Well, as much as wanted to enjoy the office Christmas party, it seems I have a Deadpool to remove, but in the spirit of the holidays I will be doing it festively. Hey Deadpool! How hard will it be to pull candy canes out of your body?!** _ **(Rapid-fire Candy Cane Cannon begins revving up)**_

 **Deadpool: Oh, I am so gonna deck the halls with you.**

 **Announcement: We apologize for the interruption. We trust by the end of the chapter that things will be resolved. Additionally, the author left a note to clarify that that while behaviour exhibited in this chapter, as well as events in reference to a time period before season 3 began should not be considered canon, unlike the Halloween special.**

 **Deadpool: OW! Peppermint stings! Huh, who knew?**

* * *

 **Post Completion Edit:**

 **Sorry this was late. Things got a bit hectic with getting this finished and handling other Christmas stuff. Hopefully the extra length will make up for it! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**

* * *

Ah, the Winter Holidays. A time for families to come together in celebration. A time when a certain magic fills the air, a time when…

"I CAN'T HAVE A SINGLE HOLIDAY WITHOUT SOME INTERRUPTION CAN I?!"

When stress levels shoot through the roof. Especially when one was supposed to be preparing for a Christmas gathering, but was interrupted by work. Even more so when 'work' involves fighting various amalgamations of animals until they're unconscious using one's bare hands.

Currently, Grey had been out grabbing the last few gifts he needed for the Christmas celebration, but was unfortunately met with a problem. A large, hairy problem.

To be more specific, it was a fifteen-foot-tall grizzly bear with monkey legs and insect wings. Which he was currently clinging to the nose of and punching in the face, much to the awe, terror and confusion of onlookers.

Now, normally Grey wouldn't make use of such tactics, but he had already been in a foul mood before the giant, lumbering interruption started smashing through the city, so tacking that extra little bit was enough to finally make him lose some control over his temper. Soon enough, the bear... monkey… thing was staggering around from the many blows to the head, which Grey quickly fixed by grabbing a nearby car that had been totalled in the initial rampage and swung it around to bash the beast right between the eyes! It groaned before collapsing to the ground unconscious, which Grey huffed with annoyance at. It was a few more minutes before Monarch arrived to haul it away. Grey took a few minutes to question the Monarch officer that came with regarding how he wasn't informed of the beast getting into the city like this, as well as how it got all the way here. After making a mental note to have words with other Monarch personnel regarding this, he went back to the store where he'd left his purchases so far and collected them before leaving and heading to his car. He'd started leasing a house in Vancouver (which he was wondering how smart of an idea was, considering the cost was a bit nuts), deciding that he wanted to get a bit of distance from Monarch since he had lived and worked there for a little over three years now.

It had been nice so far. The only problem was that it took him a bit longer to get to work in the morning, and that wasn't accounting for all the travelling he did. Still, he did like living on his own. Plus, he'd actually decorated for the holidays! Just a few Christmas lights and some decorations he'd gotten when he told his family he was getting his own place. Since he wasn't going to be having company over for the holidays, he didn't feel the need for a Christmas tree this year. Maybe next year, if his family came out to visit him.

Soon Grey reached the house he was leasing.

It was a bit large for one person, having three bedrooms two bathrooms, an open kitchen and living room, but considering he'd been getting quite a few visitors from the Monarch facility where he used to live, plus the fact that his family would probably start visiting him more often, now that he had his own place, he considered it warranted. He'd considered springing for a place with a pool but discounted the idea since he knew he'd never use it. Besides, with how busy he was, he'd probably never use it.

Once he got home, he laid out all the gifts he picked up for his family. For his mother, he'd picked out an amethyst necklace, since he knew she loved that particular stone. For his father, he'd picked up a selection of classic records since he loved music and had a record player in the basement. For the twins, he'd gotten a gag gift of ugly socks, as well as a new machine that could play digital board games. Now all that was left was the wrapping, which didn't take very long at all to finish.

Now, with all that done, and the cross-species crisis of the week sorted out, he could relax on the couch, put on the TV and enjoy a cool glass of eggnog. Except for one problem.

"How do I go through three cartons of eggnog!?"

Alas, poor Grey was out of eggnog. Perhaps the thing that he most looked forward to about this holiday season. Luckily, he was within walking distance of a convenience store that he knew sold eggnog, so he grabbed a sweater and went out the door. It wasn't too long before he reached the convenience store only to find…

"NOTHING?!" Grey almost shouted. Indeed, the eggnog was completely sold out. Not a single carton left.

"I cannot believe this…" Grey muttered as he walked home dejectedly. He had no interest of getting back in the car to try and track down more eggnog, but now he was out and was going to be flying back to his family the next day, so there was no point in getting more anyway. Grey huffed as he shut the door and shed his sweater before laying down on the couch and turning on the TV.

"Oh well. At least I can probably get my hands on some eggnog at the gathering." Grey muttered to himself as a commercial came on, advertising a brand of eggnog. Grey's first instinct was to throw the remote through the TV. He resisted, but only marginally. Instead he shut off the TV and grumbled in frustration before opening his laptop to see if Monarch had tried to contact him post monster beatdown. He'd received one message from Graham regarding the monster apparently having a concussion and that he might have gone a bit overboard. Grey winced a little bit, recognizing that he may have lost his temper a little bit. Still, he was having some trouble paying attention to the message considering that HE WAS OUT OF EGGNOG! *ahem*

After responding to the message with an apology and an explanation, he checked the time and decided it was close enough to dinner to start cooking and got to work on a simple soup. While it was simmering he put on some toast and went to the fridge for a drink, only to remember again that he was out of eggnog. It was then that he stopped to consider that he may have a problem. Then he got a call from home.

"Hello?" Grey asked as he answered the phone.

" _Hey, dear! Just wanted to confirm when your flight's arriving."_

Grey yawned tiredly as he sat down at the table. It was his mother. He'd been expecting she'd call sooner or later.

"I'd say around noon. So, how's decorating going?" Grey asked.

" _It's going great! We missed you for decorating the tree. I've had to hide the Christmas baking from the twins to make sure there's enough left for you."_ His mother answered. Grey grinned a bit at the thought of Sam and Mark's antics.

"Yeah, I wish I could have been there to help with the tree, but my usual workload kinda shot through the roof. I actually bruised a few knuckles on a crab monster. That was NOT a fun day at the beach." Grey quipped, getting a small, nervous laugh out of his mother.

"Anyway, I'm just sitting down for dinner. Can't wait to get home and enjoy a glass of eggnog with everyone! I actually ran out last night without realizing it until I got home today! See ya tomorrow!" Grey signed off before starting on his dinner. Tomorrow, his holiday would begin properly.

* * *

Of course, back in his childhood home, problems were ensuing.

"We're out!" Grey's mother shouted.

"Out of what?" His father asked. His mother turned to him with fear in her eyes.

"Eggnog! We don't have any eggnog! And he ran out yesterday!" His mother nearly shrieked. Immediately, his father's eyes widened.

"Not good, not good at all, really not good! How did we run out?! We had four cartons left last I checked!" His father exclaimed, joining his wife in freaking out. They couldn't figure it out! Where had all the eggnog gone?! Then they figured it out.

"MARK! SAM! DID YOU DRINK ALL THE EGGNOG?!" Both parents bellowed simultaneously. Immediately, their parental instincts told them that the siblings had immediately tensed up in terror, which told them all they needed to know.

"Okay, this is fine. It's fine! We can just go get more! Alright! Lets just drive to the store and pick up some more eggnog! Why did we have to run out of eggnog within twenty-four hours of Grey coming home?!" Grey's father started ranting as he pulled on his coat, grabbed the car keys and hurried out the door. Meanwhile, Grey's mother began the process of tracking down the twins and reminding them why they had purchased four cartons of eggnog and what was at stake should they fail to find more before Grey got home. Needless to say, they were suddenly realizing the magnitude of the situation. When it came to the holiday season, it was almost as if Grey became possessed. While he usually acted like his usual self and was as much in the festive mood as ever, he also developed a craving for eggnog, which had slowly developed into something almost terrifying to behold, should he not get at least one tall glass of eggnog a day. It always started on the very first of December and continued into the new year. They had no idea how it started, nor why it had gotten worse over the years, but it had instilled within them a fear of what a Grey without eggnog would look like. But oh, the faults of twins who were too young to remember. And in addition to this, they had never gone a year without eggnog since Grey's mutation. They shuddered to think of what sort of horror that could turn into.

After fifteen minutes of pacing and trying to calm down, assuring herself that they could find at least one carton of eggnog in town, Grey's mother received a phone call.

" _I can't find any!"_

"What do you mean you can't find any?!"

" _I told you I can't find any! They've sold out at three stores!"_

"How can they possibly be sold out?! It's eggnog! This is the first time I've ever heard of eggnog being sold out anywhere and it's now?!"

" _I spoke to the managers and they told me that a new shipment should be coming in tomorrow! We just need to get there the absolute moment the shipment arrives! In the meantime, we'll just have to delay him, and possible beg a carton from someone else."_

"Should it be at all concerning that we're panicking this much over eggnog?"

" _Considering the potential consequences of NOT finding the eggnog, I'd say no really!"_

Indeed, panic was filling the air at the prospect of Christmas Grey going through eggnog withdrawal, especially since the process had already begun.

* * *

 _Meanwhile, back in Vancouver…_

Grey lay in bed, appearing to be asleep until his eyes snapped open and he stared at the ceiling.

"…"

"Dammit, I really want a glass of eggnog."

* * *

 _The next day…_

Grey yawned as his plane began its descent towards the airport. He hadn't slept well that night, so he'd tried to rest on the plane. He'd gotten a few hours of sleep before he reached his first stop and had to de-board and wait for his next flight. Then that flight was delayed, but not enough to make a significant change in his arrival time. He took the time to try and search for some sort of vendor that sold any sort of beverage with eggnog in it, but came up short, much to his dismay and frustration. He'd been half-hoping that the in-flight snacks and drinks might have some eggnog, but he wasn't so lucky. So, he continued napping where he could along the way before he was woken up by the need for descent procedure.

A few minutes later, he felt the distinct _THUMP_ that signalled a successful landing. Soon enough, the plane pulled in and it was time to de-board. He grabbed his carry-on and left the plane, heading for the carousel to pick up his luggage. It wasn't long before he was able to collect his things and head out to find his family somewhere in the airport.

* * *

 _Elsewhere in the airport…_

"Alright, with that delay, that bought your father extra time to get to the store and get that eggnog. Now, we are going to make no mention that we don't have any eggnog, we will not bring up the topic of eggnog at all. In fact, we will say the word 'eggnog' as little as possible until your father confirms that we have eggnog. Are we clear?" Grey's mother asked the twins, who simply nodded. Witnessing the panic and stress their parents were feeling had made it very apparent just how imperative it was to follow these instructions to the letter.

Then the phone rang. The call was from Grey's father.

"Please tell me you got it… Uh huh… Yes… WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE SHIPMENT'S BEEN DELAYED?!" Grey's mother all but shrieked.

" _Apparently the truck broke down on the way to the store! They said it should arrive before the store closes, but they aren't 100% sure."_ Grey's father responded after wincing at the noise.

"Did you drive around to other stores? Did you check with the neighbours?! If we don't get our hands on at least one carton of eggnog we're doomed! DOOMED I TELL YOU!"

" _Try to keep him delayed when he arrives! I'll check with another store before coming home and if I don't find any, I'll go back and see if the shipment arrives. Worst case scenario we can just figure out how to make it."_

It was at this moment that Grey's mother paused for a full straight minute before smacking herself in the forehead. Why didn't they just make the eggnog!? That would sure have saved them a ton of stress these last few days!

"Change of plans! We're making the eggnog! You look up a recipe and gather the ingredients, I'll keep Grey occupied so you can get started! MOVE!"

"What's all the shouting about?"

Grey's mother yelped as she turned around and saw Grey approaching. He was hauling some pretty large luggage behind him, but it didn't seem to bother him.

"Oh, just stressed over some last-minute Christmas details, you know how it is!" She answered quickly. Grey lifted an eyebrow but shrugged before yelping in surprise as the twins attempted to tackle him. Luckily, he maintained his balance and gave both of them hugs before hefting his luggage again.

"I just got off the plane, don't send me to the hospital!" He exclaimed as he gently pried the twins off his legs.

"Wow, you guys are getting big! How much have you grown since I was home?" He asked as they started back to the car.

"I think you're just short!" Mark playfully jabbed. Grey groaned exaggeratedly.

"I'm still growing! Just slower than I should be. Much slower… I'm not short!" Grey argued back, making a big show of it. Soon they got back to the car, Grey loaded his luggage into the back and they set off for home. Along the way, the twins asked Grey about the cross-species Grey had fought since he'd been home, which Grey indulged as well as he legally could, but also tried to discourage them from asking more about it. He didn't want them getting the idea that his job was somehow glamorous. It might appear so if you squinted a bit, but it was more like extreme animal control.

Opting to change the subject, Grey started inquiring about anything interesting that had been happening in the neighbourhood while he'd been away. While the twins began regaling him with some embellished tales, there was rush and panic going on back at the house, as Grey's father had tracked down an eggnog recipe and was hurriedly working his way through the recipe. Of course, with Grey rapidly approaching the house, he really needed to start working fast.

Which was immediately interrupted when the phone rang. Grey's father seized the offending item and slammed a finger down on the talk button.

"Hello?" He asked, trying to keep the stress and irritation out of his voice.

" _Hello, I was wondering if Grey was there? I'm trying to get in touch and I think his phone is turned off."_

"I'm his father. Who is this, exactly?" Grey's father asked, becoming increasingly aware of the ticking clock.

" _A work associate of him and Dr. Graham. Graham just wanted me to forward some information regarding a recent… acquisition, shall we say. Could you perhaps let him know that Graham's assistant has some information for him, that'd be great. Oh, and happy holidays!"_

"It will be once I get this damn eggnog made…" Grey's father muttered after whoever it was on the other line hung up and got started on separating the egg yoke from the egg whites. Shortly after he finished doing so and started whisking the yolks with sugar when he heard the door open and froze in place. A series of curses and prayers rushed through his head as started working double time while calling out a greeting. It wasn't more than a few seconds before Grey's mother entered the kitchen.

"Okay, so it shouldn't be too long before the eggnog is ready. You know, the more I think of it, the more angry I get that we didn't think of learning how to make it ourselves years ago." Grey's mother muttered.

"What about eggnog?" Grey inquired with a cheerful voice, prompting jumps and flinches from his parents.

"GAH, oh, we just thought we'd try making it ourselves this year!" His mother responded quickly. Grey grinned.

"Cool! Bet it'll taste even better than store-bought! So, do you know if Tobi is in town? I know Max and Jessica are visiting their relatives in Arizona." Grey asked.

"I'm not sure. Oh, by the way, someone from Monarch called the house looking for you, said they were Dr. Graham's assistant. They wanted you to get in touch as soon as you could." Grey's father replied. Grey looked confused for a second before rolling his eyes.

"Of course, work still follows me home on vacation. Alright, I'll be in my room if anyone's looking for me." Grey responded before walking off. His parents both breathed a sigh of relief at having bought some more time. Grey's father immediately continued work on the eggnog while Grey's mother went to take a seat before she collapsed from stress.

* * *

 _Meanwhile with Grey…_

"Uh huh… yeah… I see… Okay, how is problems with the dosage my fault...? yeah, I know I hit it pretty hard… Yes, I may have used a bit of excessive… But it's not suffering permane… Concussions aren't… Look, I'm sorry I got a bit carried away. I was in a bit of a bad mood and that thing made it worse… You're an AI, what qualifies as a bad mood to you? No, I don't need the math! Just tell Graham I'm sorry and that I'm more than happy to talk when I get back from Christmas holidays… Yes, merry Christmas. Goodbye."

Grey hung up the phone with a sigh of relief. Why Ion felt the need to interrupt him on his vacation hours, especially since it wasn't much more than a progress update regarding the cross-species he'd flattened the other day. Having sorted that out and gotten Ion off his back, he went and grabbed his luggage from the living room before unpacking his clothes, as well as the presents he had brought along, fighting off Mark and Sam's attempts to try and figure out what he had got for them. Afterwards, he finally was able to sit down on his familiar spot on the couch and sigh in comfort. Now there was only one thing missing.

"And, it's ready!"

Scratch that. Nothing was missing. Grey leapt off the couch and hurried into the kitchen where his father was pouring homemade eggnog into tall glasses. After adding some nutmeg on top, Grey enthusiastically grabbed his glass and took a generous gulp. There was a pause…

"This… is REALLY good eggnog!" Grey shouted as he took another gulp. The family all breathed a collective sigh of relief as they all started on their eggnog. And for another Christmas, the eggnog monster was sated.

* * *

 _On Christmas Morning…_

"MOM, DAD, WAKE UP! IT'S CHRISTMAS! COME ONE GREY, YOU CAN'T SLEEP MORE, WE GOTTA SEE WHAT SANTA BROUGHT US!"

Grey had already woken up, but the excited bellowing from his younger siblings was enough to drive him from the warmth and comfort of his blankets. He yawned as he pulled on his pajamas and made his way downstairs, followed not too long after by his parents.

After distributing gifts around, Grey sat back and watched as the twins tore open a few new toys, a couple of new video games, as well as his joke gift before pointing out the board game machine he'd tucked away. He watched with a gleeful grin on his face as they opened it and their faces broke into gaping smiles.

The records and necklace went over well with his mom and dad. Especially the necklace.

Then he opened his gifts. He'd heard he was difficult to shop for, given his lifestyle, but he thought they did really well. He'd gotten a few new T-shirts, a new hoodie, a gift card for the cinema, and some new electronics supplies!

"We figured that since you're still setting up your workshop there, you could use some new supplies." His father explained with a grin as Grey grinned back.

Later that night, they all sat in front of the TV, watching old Christmas movies while eating popcorn and drinking eggnog. The end to a perfect Christmas.

* * *

 **Again, sorry about being late! This took longer to complete, partially because when I initially started, I didn't really know what sort of special that it was going to be, only that I wanted it to be funny.**

 **Creativity: Funny?! I for one don't like dealing with Dave when he hasn't had his daily eggnog!**

 **Author: Well, I think we made something funny out of it!**

 **Deadpool: Speaking of, can I have some eggnog?**

 **Author: NO! As punishment for breaking and entering, trespass and interfering with our party and Christmas special, you are condemned to only watch the festivities!**

 **Deadpool: aww…**

 **Author… oh fine, you can have a glass. But I'm not untying you!**

 **Deadpool: Probably best not to move around too much anway. I still need to pull a few candy canes out of ye olde buns!**

 **Author: I did not need to hear that.**

 **Well, I do believe that covers everything! And so, I sign off until the February!**

 **MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!**


	50. AN: DELAYS

**Hello everyone. As you can probably tell by the title, we aren't quite ready to start releasing chapters quite yet.**

 **Creativity: We're close, but not quite.**

 **Author: Yeah, that about sums it up. Looking back on it, the first Sunday of February was honestly kind of optimistic as a date offer up the conclusion, what with College and what measly scraps of social life I have left. So, we're pushing that back to the first Sunday of March. Don't worry, it's just so we can get a few more chapters done so that if we hit a wall, you aren't stuck waiting.**

 **Now, in the meantime, I have something else to talk about: The Poll.**

 **I wasn't expecting tons of people to come flocking to the poll, but since we put it out in the middle of December, we've had a whopping 3 votes, which is a bit disheartening. I know most people probably skip over these AN chapters because it's not a chapter proper, but I hoped that at least some of you would offer up a vote.**

 **So, we will instead be extending the poll until A Very Bad Idea ends, giving you more time to consider the stories.**

 **Now, for those of you who DON'T know about the poll, I will briefly recap.**

 **I have published three different stories with** _ **(sampling)**_ **in the title. One of these stories will be taking focus as my primary story after I finish writing A Very Bad Idea, and you all will decide which one it is! Simply read these story samplings and vote for which one you want to see finished (and touched up, since they're a bit old now and probably would be done better with a few edits)**

 **Alright, I believe that covers everything! See ya in March!**


	51. Toy Factory from Hell

**Wow, it's actually been a couple of months since I sat down to write for this story. So, as of this writing, I've just started publishing the first wave of chapters for Venom: Resurgence, just as a timestamp, and by my guess, that makes it at least two months since I wrapped up the first half of A Very Bad Idea (s3)**

 **Creativity: Yeah. It feels good to be back.**

 **Author: Do say. Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the Christmas Special for this story! Now, I haven't started writing it yet, since I don't know exactly what kind of special I want to make for it. Or rather, everything I just said in past tense. Godzilla, this stuff is so weird to write when it comes to backlog.**

 **Creativity: Tell me about it. We haven't even started publishing season 3 yet!**

 **Author: Well, that means, or rather, will have meant that we had two months to think of and write the special, so it is/wasn't that bad.**

 **As for the timing of it? Well, we wanted to start at the beginning of a month, and when we did a bit of checking, we found that we actually would have ended a few days before Christmas, so there you have it!**

 **Creativity: Plus, we just REALLY wanted to have a healthy backlog ready for then we started publishing again, so that we wouldn't be stuck missing a few days like the end of season 2**

 **Author: That too, yeah.**

 **BUT WE'RE BACK! AGAIN! And we're proud to present chapter 9 of A Very Bad Idea (s3)**

* * *

Rothstein groaned as he leaned back in his seat aboard his aircraft. His hand unconsciously rested over one of his wounds from Skull Island, from the weapon that had exploded and left him burned and with several shrapnel wounds. Unfortunately, one of which was rather dangerous, but also proved more dangerous to deal with.

A fragment of the weapon's firing mechanism, one that was heavily dosed in radioactive material, had gotten wedged in an place that was borderline impossible to operate on. As a result, he was stuck with a piece of irradiated shrapnel that was constantly leaking radiation into his body. He'd managed to acquire medication to abate the symptoms of his problem, but that wouldn't last him forever. Now, he had an even more pressing reason to acquire as many vaults as he could.

While much study had been put in to treating radiation poisoning, both in and out of E.V.O, there wasn't anything to solve Rothstein's current problem. However, he knew that Yorburg had put plenty of study into radiation, considering all his research on Godzilla and those like him. Therefore, he would likely have developed several concoctions in the event that he started suffering any effects of radiation poisoning himself. Of course, this all assumed that Yorburg had been successful AND that the vault those secrets were potentially stashed in had not been pilfered by Augustus already. Still, he had to hope. He didn't have much left aside to save his life but hope.

His musings on his own mortality were broken when the autopilot signaled to him that they were approaching his destination: An automated manufacturing facility hidden in the Arctic. He turned to a screen and pressed a few buttons, starting to transmit clearance codes to open the door to the facility.

As he approached, the snow began to shift as massive doors began to open, revealing the facility to be underground. He maneuvered the aircraft inside and activated a virus to be transmitted inside, which would reprogram the cameras and other surveillance equipment to behave as if he wasn't there. Since the only time anything flesh-and-blood came inside was to deliver materials or for a monthly inspection, he wouldn't have to worry about being found out. Rothstein smirked to himself as he climbed free of the cockpit and stepped onto reassuring solid ground. Rothstein remembered Yorburg arguing for facilities such as this with much fervor, and this was one of the first ever to be constructed. This particular one had been constructed specifically for weapons manufacturing. They were in the midst of transitioning away from flesh-and-blood soldiers to replace with humanoid machines. However, they still wanted flesh-and-blood soldiers to use to create combat algorithms for their new robotic soldiers, and for the more elite within E.V.O to have weapons to defend themselves with.

Additionally, this facility also doubled as a testing ground for prototype weapons and combat machines. Specifically, a set of weapons designed for modular use, both in projectile and how the weapons were handled. While they had developed robots capable of full human articulation, they were still making adjustments that would allow a robot to be able to functionally grip a gun. Despite the various grips they'd designed, both on the robots and weapons, the robots still had a butterfingers problem. Thus, the solution was to construct the weapons and guns to be able to fix to each other. As an added bonus, that would mean a slightly shorter window of time between the signal to fire reaching the weapon. In fact, Rothstein was half-considering taking a few pieces for himself. With his condition, he'd be at a severe disadvantage in a fight now and would likely require some form of backup.

But that could wait until later. For now, he had a vault to track down.

* * *

Augustus grumbled as he weaved through several transportation drones, who were, well, transporting materials to be used for manufacturing more weapons and robots. As much as he wished they'd keep to specified lanes that stayed out of his way, he had to admire the craftsmanship, as well as the AI the machines used. Everything had not insignificant path-finding programming, as well as communication to a massive central 'hive' that relayed communications between almost every machine, as well as facilitated maintenance, updates and upgrades, as well as changes on what to manufacture. The structure of it all was astounding and perhaps one of the greatest things he'd seen come from E.V.O. He could certainly see why his uncle had pushed so hard for them to begin constructing locations such as this. If only more things could be so efficient.

But alas, his musings of such a world were interrupted when a device strapped to his wrist started beeping. He held it up and cursed. Someone else was in the facility. They'd only just entered, since Augustus had inserted a protocol to hide from all surveillance as well as alert him if the hanger doors were opened, which had just been tripped.

"Why do I always have someone nipping at my heels as of late?" Augustus muttered aloud before picking up his pace. This was getting ridiculous. At this rate, he was going to be beaten to his prize eventually, and if he lost even a single vault, he'd be unable to reach the location where his uncle was keeping his contingency plan. More than just living up to his uncle's (and his own) perfectionism was riding on his success. Their revenge was riding on it the most.

According to the map he had acquired from the vault, his uncle's vault was stashed in a secret room that his uncle had programmed in after the completion of this facility. In addition to it being fully automated, the facility's entire floor-plan was completely modular, allowing one to change the layout or create rooms for specific and/or temporary purposes. Additionally, his uncle had informed him in a message unlocked from the last vault, that there was a device inside that allowed for swift alterations to an area of the facility that wasn't directly tied to ongoing manufacturing. If he could get to that, he could severely thin out the 'competition' for his uncle's vaults. He could turn the facility into a deathtrap for anyone who dared try to steal what was rightfully his.

As he continued towards the secret room, he paused briefly to take a look at one of the weapons that was being manufactured here. It looked like some form of assault rifle, designed for thermos-nuclear ammunition. It appeared the gun also came with a few optional upgrades, ranging from having a mini nuclear reactor to take the place of a magazine, an onboard specialized AI to assist with aiming, to a multitude of other upgrades. The AI upgrade actually gave Augustus a thought: Perhaps he should see about… acquiring his own AI. It could be useful in helping him find out just who was trying to steal his inheritance. Well, aside from those Monarch lackeys of course, though they were likely to be in pursuit of his competition than the vaults. Perhaps he could use that to solve one or both of his problems.

He immediately shunted that idea aside. He didn't have time to ponder how to use one problem to solve another. He had to focus on his objective. And that objective was to find his uncle's vault.

Fortunately, that wouldn't be too long as he soon came to his destination, which seemed like a blank wall at first glance. Augustus removed a device from his built that looked like a pen, and then pressed a button on it that caused the tip of the pen to start glowing red. He pressed it to the wall and watched as the wall began to shudder. He heard the sound of machines whirring as the wall began to shift and slide, creating a doorway to a short corridor. He stepped through and made his way to the room at the end of the corridor, which looked like some form of security hub. The room was large and oval shaped, with the vault situated on a pedestal in the center of the room. Additionally, there was a device set into the pedestal, just below the vault. Augustus grinned as he grabbed the device and began examining it. It was definitely the right device, allowing him to control the layout of certain sections of the facility at will. However, it appeared that in addition to not controlling all aspects of the facility, it also didn't work outside this room. So whatever offensive he mounted, he'd have to do it from inside this room. Fortunately, it quickly became apparent that such a task would be easier than he initially thought. The walls began to shift and revealed themselves to be enormous monitors, allowing him to see all of the areas that he could control with the device. He held up the device and gave it a onceover again. He needed to figure out the device quickly if he was to lay his trap.

* * *

Rothstein grunted in frustration as he made his way towards the vault. He didn't know the precise location, but he did have a good idea of where to look. Unfortunately, there weren't any 'human only' lanes available for him at the moment, meaning he had to deal with machines constantly getting in his way. This was taking far too long. He couldn't afford to linger too long, otherwise he'd either be caught be E.V.O once they caught on to the virus looping the video footage or messing with their robots. Additionally, he had no insurance that Augustus hadn't been here already or was here. It had become a bit of a recurring pattern for the two of them to run into each other. Hopefully, if he was here, Rothstein could… extract the whereabouts of the vaults from him, then dispose of him. What a service to the world that would be.

Unfortunately, it seemed that such wishes would not be granted, as he suddenly felt the ground rumbling and saw that a large section of the facility was beginning to shift. While he wasn't exactly in the loop of what plans were in motion at E.V.O these days, he was reasonably sure that they didn't include a floorplan change this drastic. Whatever this was, it wasn't normal. And probably nothing good.

He picked up the pace, heading for where he suspected the vault was, which unfortunately seemed to be part of where the massive shift was occurring. He cursed as he hurried along as fast as he could. There was no way this could possibly be a coincidence.

And then, as if things couldn't get any more complicated, an alarm began to sound throughout the facility.

"You're sure that this facility is here?" Grey questioned as he checked his gauntlets again. Next to him, Sabrina was doing a last-minute check of her own gear.

" _Absolutely. This facility was just beginning construction before my own facility was shut down. I wasn't sure exactly where, but the projected flightpath from both images I caught on satellite let me triangulate where they were headed. Also, I'm picking up E.V.O automation broadcast, so we're definitely close."_ Ion said.

"I hope you're right. I can barely tolerate Canadian Fall, I am not going to be happy if we flew out to the Arctic in winter for nothing." Sabrina responded as she checked her claws' status.

Grey had been really leery about Sabrina coming along on another mission that potentially involved Rothstein or the other target, but she'd been insistent. She assured them that she wouldn't fly off the handle again like on Skull Island, so they decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Along with them for this trip was Nancy from Ford's unit, since Ford was still recovering from his injuries sustained while on Skull Island. All of them were decked out in new polar-gear that Monarch had developed for them. Unlike the previous uniforms that Monarch had made for Gen-1 cross-species, these ones came with sleeves. Paradoxically, they were a little thinner on the torso, but that was because they sacrificed radiation channeling material for special new material they had developed for maximizing heat retention. Additionally, the suits had special built-in gauntlets instead of the originals being fitted over. This was to make sure that the material didn't get in the way of Grey's signals to fire, as well as drawing on his own radiation reserves. Same for Sabrina, who's requested claw modification was carried over to her own suit. Nancy had her own cold-weather gear and was equipped with a thermo-nuclear assault rifle. Ion was currently in the helicopter's mainframe, assisting the autopilot in tracking down the E.V.O manufacturing facility.

" _It should be… Ah, there we are! Just let me start transmitting the access codes…"_ Ion announced before doing just that.

"Ion, are you certain those codes are still good? You've been out of the loop for a while." Grey asked, hoping not to offend the AI.

" _I'd be surprised if they didn't work. Worst case scenario, I just have to gain access the hard and more time-consuming way. Don't worry. We're getting in."_ Ion assured them as it dipped lower to the ground. It was a few minutes before the ground started to shift. Grey's eyes widened as the ground split open and revealed a massive hanger beneath the frozen earth.

" _See? Didn't I tell you I'd get us in?"_ Ion asked in voice that was dripping with self-satisfaction. Grey rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't pull something while patting yourself on the back. Now, are there any alarms that we should be worried about, or security drones, anything at all?" Grey responded with a hint of snark at the beginning.

" _Normally I'd say yes, but I'm doing some interfacing with the main hive, and it seems that there's a couple pieces of malware that are interfering with the security protocols. I don't think we'll need to worry too much about being spotted. However, I wouldn't take that as an endorsement. Also, as you recall, since this an active E.V.O location and not one of the abandoned ones that you've been finding with our last few missions to catch Rothstein. Also, if you have the opportunity, you should get me into a data terminal. I could try to pull some data on other E.V.O bases for us to raid."_ Ion reminded them. Grey nodded as he cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders.

"We heard you the first time. Anything else we should know about this place?" Grey inquired as they approached the floor of the facility.

" _Actually, there is one thing I might have missed in the initial overview. The facility is designed to operate with little-to-no human oversight, as you'll recall, but the facility is also designed to be able to have the floorplan completely altered to better fit the manufacturing process of a specific item, or for other such purposes. So, be careful. It's unlikely that Rothstein or the other target can make such changes, but you never know. Exercise caution if the facility begins to shift."_ Ion added as the ramp began lowering and the team disembarked, with Ion jumping into Grey's headset.

As they advanced through the facility, Grey couldn't help but marvel at the technology on display. Not so much the weapons as the manufacturing process, though the weapons were a definitely a marvel as well. And then the alarms went off.

"Ion, I thought you said we'd go unnoticed!" Grey shouted as loud sirens began blaring throughout the facility. They weren't too far into the facility, so this was not a good sign.

" _You should have been, what with multiple pieces of malware attacking the surveillance systems! Something must have quarantined them and rebooted the system! Probably a security AI, but I'm not positive. You have to get me to a terminal, so I can shut the stupid thing off!"_ Ion responded heatedly. Grey wanted to fire back with a retort but bit his tongue and started searching the terminal Ion had mentioned; a task that became much more difficult when security drones began descending upon them.

"Oh, well isn't this wonderful!" Sabrina shouted as she began blasting them. Nancy also started cutting them down while Grey shot down a few while hunting for that damned terminal. Things only got crazier from there.

" _Everyone, I hate to add pressure to the situation, but you know how I mentioned that this facility was modular and could change its floorplan if told to?"_ Ion began, only for Nancy to cut it off.

"Let me guess! The floorplan is changing right now?!" She all but shouted. Grey cursed as he hunted for _something, anything to get the security drones off of them, then had an idea._

"Ion, can you get access to the security center through one of the security devices?!" Grey yelled as he blasted two more drones out of the sky.

" _In theory, yes, but I'll have to contend with any security AI they have patrolling the system. It'd be much easier to go through the terminal channels."_ Ion responded.

"We don't exactly have time to find a terminal!" Grey responded before leaping into the air and grabbing one of the drones out of the sky! Ion jumped into the drone and set to work on accessing the security protocols, fighting off any opposing AI with little difficulty (They were not nearly as well designed as she was) and trying to pin down the source of the changing floorplan.

Soon enough, the drones were deactivated, and the alarms finally shut up, but unfortunately Ion wasn't able to figure out what was causing the floorplan to be altered. It seemed that whatever was causing the changes wasn't connected to the main hive at the moment or was otherwise disguised from it. Deciding to cut losses, Ion jumped out of the drone and back into Grey's headset.

" _Well, obviously I got the security measures off our backs, but I can't trace where the orders for the floorplan change are coming from. I have two suggestions. Either we call it quits, head back to the helicopter and avoid a potential deathtrap set by Rothstein or the other target, or we keep going and hope that we don't get crushed by the moving walls, floors and whatever else may be moving."_ Ion offered. Grey and Sabrina both rolled their eyes.

"We're going after them." Sabrina responded as they turned and continued making their way deeper into the facility. They could see the shifting up ahead.

"Suddenly I'm thinking that this wasn't such a good idea" Grey muttered as they kept getting closer. Thankfully it eventually all settled and they could keep going without worrying about the shifting machinery crushing them with one misstep. Unfortunately, they had no idea what they were walking into. And what they were walking into, was a trap.

* * *

As Augustus strolled back towards the hanger, he couldn't help but sport a smile that was absolutely dripped with self-satisfaction. He'd created a small gauntlet of traps for any would-be pursuers, secured the next vault, and used the remote his uncle had made to set up a corridor that basically walked him all the way back to the hanger! The one thing he wished he had was a monitor so that he could watch his competition and the Monarch team stumble around in his trap. Unfortunately, his schedule didn't allow for such entertainment. Instead, he hurried back to his aircraft and clamoured inside before exiting. He half-considered sabotaging the Monarch helicopter, but decided it wasn't worth the time and effort. Instead, he simply flew away, eagerly awaiting when he returned home to open this latest vault.

Rothstein cursed as he tried to find the chamber where the vault was kept. He knew it was here somewhere! He just had to find it!

Thankfully, the virus he'd snuck into the security system was still working, but he wasn't sure how long it could keep going until the security AI caught onto it. Then he'd be exposed to E.V.O.

He didn't believe that the security drones would turn on him, unless they had marked him a traitor (He considered that unlikely) but being revealed like this would immediately invite E.V.O to come after him, and he doubted that they would play nice, what with his indirect involvement with all of their poor fortune these last few years and his vanishing act two years ago.

Part of him was considering crawling back to them, especially after he got that piece of irradiated shrapnel stuck in him. There was a slim chance that they had the resources to save him, though they would definitely leverage that against him. And all of that assumed they were capable of saving him at all. As it was, he didn't think there was anyone capable of surgically removing the shrapnel, and he only had a sparse number of holding measures to keep the radiation from killing him. Unfortunately, those measures wouldn't last long. Hell, he'd be surprised if they kept him alive for more than a year. No, if he had any chance of surviving, he needed to get his hands on at least one vault. If it didn't contain anything useful, he could try trading it to Augustus for in exchange for something that could.

However, such an endeavor demanded he survived this one, which it was beginning to rapidly look like he wouldn't, as evidenced when the floors suddenly slammed upwards into a box and he felt the temperature beginning to drop. He began cursing profusely. Augustus had somehow managed to reprogram the facility into a death trap!

He began to frantically search for some means of escape, but he suspected that wouldn't be possible. The trap had been set by remote, and it was likely that was the only way to disarm it.

Rothstein continued cursing as he huddled into a corner, trying to conserve body heat for as long as he could. Hopefully he'd survive the ordeal, but he doubted it. Not without a miracle.

* * *

"YOU SAID YOU SHUT THEM OFF!"

" _I DID!"_

"THEN WHY ARE THEY SHOOTING AT US AGAIN?!"

Things had not gone well for Grey and his team after they started on their way towards the shifting factory. In fact, shortly after they passed through one of the rooms the door slammed shut, the lights turned red, and a hoard of robots built for the express purpose of killing (an assumption based on the arm-mounted cannons, heavy armor, clawed fingers and generally menacing demeanor) had burst into the room and started attacking everything in sight. The team was currently sprinting from room to room, occasionally shooting one of the robots as they went. Unfortunately, whoever had designed these robots had also built them to resist thermo-nuclear energy, which was a problem since those were the only weapons they had. Nancy's rifle seemed to fair much better than Grey and Sabrina's gauntlets, probably since it was built for the explicit purpose of being a weapon, as opposed to the gauntlets (originally, at least), but it wasn't doing much better.

"Ion, please tell us that there's a way out of this!" Grey shouted as he narrowly avoided being fried by another blast.

" _I would, but I can't find one! Something's interfering with my connection to the central hub!"_ Ion responded, sounding as panicked as Grey and the others. They kept running through the maze of rooms and doors as the pack of murder bots scrambled behind them!

"Why can't we ever chase Rothstein somewhere that doesn't end in disaster?!" Sabrina shrieked as the group rounded yet another corner.

" _Wait! I got through for a second! In the next room I can shut a blast door!"_ Ion shouted. They ran into the indicated room and the door slammed shut. There was relief for a moment, followed by soul-crushing realization.

"Ion, this is a dead end. Emphasis on DEAD!" Grey shouted.

" _I didn't get a good reading, okay?! I'll try to find us another way!"_ Ion responded. Of course, the sounds of the robots trying to break down the door were not encouraging. Forcing himself to calm down a bit, Grey looked around at their surroundings. It appeared that this room had been either storage for prototyped weapons or an armory. Unfortunately, there seemed to be only one way in or out. And that way currently had a pack of murder-bots on the other side of it.

"Ion, don't bother looking for a way out. Can we destroy those bots?" Grey asked.

" _Not with your current weapons. I managed to pull a few specs around the same time I directed you in here, and their armor is too durable for your gauntlets to break. You might be able to break them with brute force; tear them apart and such, but those tactics would likely get you killed."_ Ion reported quickly. Grey looked around.

"What about these?" Grey looked around at the weapons on the wall.

" _Maybe… Let me get a closer look."_ Ion responded. Grey walked over to one of them and held up his hand. Ion jumped inside and began their investigation. The longest minute in existence passed before Ion spoke again.

" _I think they just might. Fair warning, these ones were designed more with the robots in mind, thus they're a lot bulkier than other weapons of comparable size. Same goes for the recoil. That shouldn't be too much of a problem for you or Sabrina, what with your enhanced strength, but I'd recommend Nancy either go for a mounted gun or something smaller."_

Grey nodded.

"Okay then. We can do this. They have just that small door to get through and we're sitting on some of the most advanced weaponry on the planet. We can do this." Grey muttered as he began examining the guns.

"You don't sound that confident." Sabrina lightly jabbed, even though her voice had traces of fear in it as she began looking at some of the weapons. As Grey continued to sift through them, keeping his ears fixed on the sound of the metal slowly, but surely giving way to the robots incessant pounding. Then his eyes settled on a rather big gun. He picked it up and found it rather heavy, but nothing he couldn't handle. It looked similar in overall structure to a minigun, but it was a fair bit heavier and didn't have any rotating barrels.

" _Why am I not surprised you'd gravitate to that one?"_ Ion snarked off. Grey rolled his eyes.

"Look, we're on a time limit here! Just tell me how it works." Grey growled back.

" _This one appears to have multiple modes of fire, though the standard will more than do for our purposes. Its current setup is a quad-barreled automatic fire, with the ammunition being compressed bursts of thermo-nuclear radiation. It should be more than enough to punch through the robots' armor, though it does have quite a bit of kick to it. Make sure you're planted firmly before firing."_ Ion advised. Satisfied with his choice, Grey took up a position in front of the door and began familiarizing himself with the weapon more. Meanwhile, Sabrina selected what looked like an assault rifle of some kind. It was a bit boxy, but overall had a slim profile.

" _This one features auto and semi-auto fire, and was more designed with human operatives in mind, thus it has reduced kickback. However, it does have a lesser clip size and slightly longer recharge cycle than other options. On one hand, you'll be focusing your fire on one point constantly, so you don't need to worry about your shots landing, but you also want to be firing more often."_ Ion informed Sabrina. She gave the weapon a once over again, before taking a position on the left side of the room, weapon pointed at the door.

Meanwhile, Nancy had selected what looked like a large pistol. She looked it over with a critical eye.

" _That one sports manual and semi-auto fire and relatively low recoil compared to the other guns, but rather high compared to pistols of what would be similar caliber. I'd recommend two hands when firing."_ Ion informed. Nancy took a position near the right wall, furthest from the line of fire. While she had adequate protection with her Monarch gear, she didn't have the benefit of being radiation resistant like the rest of the team.

The door began to dent even more, the metal groaning in protest. Then it began to glow with heat. Grey braced himself, his finger hovering over the trigger. Then the door burst off its hinges! Grey yelped and jumped aside to avoid the door before regaining his bearings and unleashing a hail of thermo-nuclear blasts upon the pack of murder bots, who were trying to get through the door! Sabrina and Nancy had both already opened fire on the bots as well. Grey gritted his teeth, his entire body tensed like serpent coiled to strike. He began slowly walking forward, maintaining fire as he got closer and closer to the door. The scraps of murder-bot were slowly clogging up the door, so he kicked them out of the way and began to swing the gun from side to side, mowing down everything in his path!

"I swear, when we finally get you, Rothstein, I am going to personally relieve you of your hands, bone by bone!" Grey shouted as they continued to gun down the robots.

It felt like ages, but they finally finished off the last robot and hurried back to the helicopter. Thankfully, it was undamaged. They immediately took off and started back for home. Another mission was a bust.

* * *

 **DEAR LORD THIS ONE WAS WAY LONGER THAN ANTICIPATED!**

 **Creativity: Legs… Need new legs… And arms…**

 **Author: Jeez, no kidding.**

 **So, I got nothing particularly in mind to say this time, since this one took a REALLY long time to finish and I'm just glad to be done with this chapter. I hope you all enjoy and… Ima go lay down for a bit.**


	52. The ring

**Good Sunday to you all! So, when I started season 2 of A Very Bad Idea, I knew I wanted the contents of this chapter to get into the season somewhere, but it didn't shake out that way. The main reason for that was that I didn't get to the mutation event until the very end. There were a few episodes, characters and lines that I knew had to make it into the story, regardless of how it all shook out. This one just so happens to be at the top of that list.**

 **Creativity: Yeah, he's wanted to do this one for a REALLY long time. Kind of like the scorpion eating contest, or the wedding special.**

 **Author: Yeah, the wedding special was something I knew I had to do at some point.**

 **Well, I don't have much else to say! All I can do is proudly present chapter 10 of A Very Bad Idea (s3)!**

* * *

 _Monarch facility: New York…_

Before Grey got back from that lunatic trip to the arctic, he couldn't wait to get out of the helicopter, offload their new toys to Graham for study, go get some pizza and forget that the arctic had happened. Of course, two weeks later and he was half-wishing he could go back to Alaska.

The lawsuit against Robert Keis had continued going forward, and it was turning into one hell of a media circus. They had tried to keep it out of the public eye as much as possible, but deep down they knew that it probably wouldn't stay that way. It simply too juicy a story for the media to pass up. What was widely considered THE last word on cross-species and Kaiju matters was taking the CEO of an international conglomerate to court? What news outlet wouldn't be milking such a story for all it was worth?

Of course, this led to Grey now having to deal with media outlets constantly pestering him for details on the case, asking if the 'mysterious disappearance' of Robert's daughter had anything to do with it, and other prying inquiries. It took a fair bit of restraint to not bring his gauntlets along so that he could fire a blast into the air to warn the away. Every time the urge came up, he had to remind himself that it would be a bad look for himself and Monarch to do so.

Normally, he'd try enforcing that special clause that kept reporters away, but there were just so many of them, constantly shouting questions, he decided it wasn't worth it to shout over the tidal wave of noise and just power through to wherever he was going. It had worked so far, though he imagined that eventually he would be hounded back to his house. If push came to shove, they might be forced to have a press release regarding the case to get the media jackals of their backs or find some other way to force the media to back off. Grey much preferred the latter option, but he considered the former to be the more likely option that Monarch would go with. Especially with Robert Keis' behaviour following his daughter's mutation and the lawsuit levelled against him as a result.

Robert had begun a smear campaign against Monarch and all associated with them, claiming that Monarch was out to discredit him, ruin his company, and otherwise go after him. Why he was being so outspoken about the whole debacle, considering there was literally no way to paint this in a good light. While the investigations regarding the hiring of mercenaries for retrieving blood samples had wound up dry so far, they did have several hospital admittance reports for registered Gen-1 cross-species, medical reports that cited blood loss in them, in addition to the specialized tranquilizer darts. Plus, they also had Keis' own daughter as evidence, though no one felt particularly good about it. They didn't want to use that evidence if they didn't have to, but it was the single strongest evidence they had that Keis had played with cross-species genetics, especially with video and audio recordings proving that he had come to Monarch for that express purpose, evidence that pointed at Robert having potentially payed off mercenaries to collect the blood for him, and the fact that his daughter was now a cross-species to back it all up. Even in the extremely unlikely event that they couldn't get a conviction, there was absolutely no way that he'd be thought of as innocent ever again. Especially with how public he was making this.

And then he'd gotten his family involved.

It was a little over a week after the Arctic incident had happened and Grey was going to speak with Sam about any new leads they had, but only came across Sam watching a live broadcast in front of one of Keis' many mansions, where someone was addressing the press.

"Oh Godzilla, what's happening this time?" Grey groaned in response. Sam shook his head.

"Keis' kid is holding a 'press meeting' that he used to out the 'possibility' that the mysterious disappearance of his sister could somehow be attributed to Monarch. He's really rocking the boat. Looks like Monarch's public image is gonna go through a temporary dip, but if Keis wants to play dirty, he's gonna get more than he bargained for." Sam observed. Grey looked pissed.

"Is he ACTUALLY daring us to publicize the single most damning piece of evidence we got?" Grey said in a scarily even tone, though his eyes were flickering between human and reptile. Sam shook his head.

"Based on the kid's tone, I'd say that he's doing this DESPITE his dad, not because of him. Doesn't change the fact that it was a boneheaded move, but I doubt that Robert was aware of his son's little stunt until the rest of the world was too." Sam responded evenly. Grey took a deep breath through his nose before turning to leave.

"I need to get out of here and get some air or I'm going to do something incredibly stupid." Grey announced before leaving to do just that. He took a car and drove off into the city. He didn't exactly care where, he just needed to cool off. After a while, he parked in a random part of town and got out to walk around, see if that helped calm him down.

Grey rubbed his forehead as he wandered about aimlessly. They had enough on their plates as it was. Searching for E.V.O bases (Of which they had found 3 in as many years, or four if you were technical), keeping their eyes peeled for Rothstein and/or his competitor, searching for Maximus Yorburg, and now dealing the lawsuit shaped headache that was Robert Keis. Monarch didn't need more of these problems.

"AGH!"

Grey was snapped out his stupor by a sudden scream that sounded like it had been hastily hushed. He hurried towards the source and saw to large men dressed completely in black with masks on hauling an unconscious cross-species towards a van. Grey snarled and charged forward, his hands turning into claws. He slammed into the first one, forcing them to drop their victim, then slammed his target against the wall, fist reared back for the next blow! Then he felt a hand clamp a cloth over his mouth. His immediate reaction was to drive his elbow back into the side of whoever was holding the cloth. This worked, but whatever was on that cloth, and it wasn't garden variety chloroform, was immediately taking effect and he was feeling woozy. This bought the assailant he had attacked first enough time to hit him with another cloth and knock him out. Grey collapsed to the ground. His assailants staggered to their feet and lifted both Grey and the other cross-species into the truck before driving off.

* * *

 _An in-determinant amount of time later at an unknown location…_

Grey's consciousness kept fluctuating. at times he felt like he was awake and could hear people talking, while other times he could just hear distorted noises and no discernible words.

"…co..l…te… ts…no…ce… sing….op…ex…je…."

" _What are they saying? Where am I"_ Grey wondered tiredly. It was a few hours later that he fully came to, locked in a concrete cell with metal bars in front of him.

"Metal bars? Really?" Grey muttered as he dragged himself to his feet. Whoever thought that metal bars would stop HIM was some kind of idiot. If he could bust through a heavy-duty tank with his bare fists three years ago, he could bend these bars, no matter what they were made of. As he rolled his shoulders and tested his full range of motion, finding himself to be a bit stiff, but nothing that a little bit of stretching. He approached the bars, flexing his fingers as he reached out to break them.

This turned out to be not a good idea since as soon as he touched him, he felt a massive jolt and he was thrown back against the back wall!

"It's electrified. Of course, it's electrified." Grey groaned as he shook his head, waiting for his nerves to calm down. If it had enough charge to affect him like this, that had to be some serious juice they were pumping through those bars.

"Okay, so going through the bars is a no. Where else can I…" Grey muttered before four men walked in dressed in black and wearing masks. They were also carrying heavy caliber rifles, which immediately put Grey on edge. Even if he used scales, those things could probably punch through him after a few shots. Fortunately, giving how these guys were holding them, they weren't used to them. Their posture said they were confident, but the vibes he was getting were fear and inexperience. The fear told him that whoever these idiots were, they at least knew who they were dealing with. Then someone else arrived.

They were wearing a crisp three-piece suit and wore an elaborate monster mask, had short black hair and stood a couple inches taller than Grey. The vibes Grey was getting from them were also of fear, though he didn't think it was specifically him.

"You know, when I got word that perhaps the single most well-known cross-species in the world had been captured by one of my teams, I thought it was a joke. Then I found it was true and well… They aren't in my employ anymore. Now, thanks to them, I have to move my entire operation somewhere else. The amount of money and manpower that's going to take is… frustrating, to say the least." The figure drawled. Their voice was distorted, probably due to some tech in the mask. Grey rolled his eyes.

"And now it's villainous speech time. So, who's evil plan is it this time? Is it E.V.O? Maybe some new problem for me to deal with? Or is it Keis? Please be Keis." Grey snarked back.

"Well, childishness aside, considering you are the reason I have to move my whole operation, I think it's only fair if you help to offset some of that cost. You'll be having a debut match tonight! Try not to make too much mess." The figure mocked before walking off. Grey almost snarled, but decided it wasn't worth it. Instead he was focused on the 'debut match' that Mr. Mask had mentioned. It sounded like he was going to be made to fight someone. Wait, they were trying to kidnap a cross-species when he got knocked out, and he had to assume they had grabbed them too. It sounded likely they were actively kidnapping cross-species…

WHY HADN'T HE HEARD ABOUT THIS SOONER?!

That settled it. He was getting out of here and he was going disassemble Mr. Mask and everyone else involved in whatever the hell this was.

As much as Grey wanted to just punch through the concrete walls and tear his way through wherever the hell this was, he imagined there was surveillance equipment in his cell and elsewhere, plus there was that heavy weaponry that could definitely put a few holes in him. For now, he'd just have to play along until he saw an opening, then he was going to make sure that Mr. Mask and every single on of his lackeys had nothing but nightmares about him for the rest of their days.

* * *

 _Several hours later…_

Grey had been resting when he'd been unceremoniously shoved out of his cell and past several other cells. Each one was occupied by one or more cross-species, all with some form of physical injury. Soon he was heading down a long hallway that lead into a brightly lit room. Once his eyes adjusted, he could see that he was in a large, crudely made dome that consisted mostly of chain-link fence that was showed evidence of rust. The ground was made of uneven concrete that looked a bit damp. The entire cage was lit up by several floodlights. The doors slammed shut behind him and he heard what sounded like a hundred voices all jeering and shouting. Across from him, another set of doors swung open and another cross-species entered the ring; A male insectoid cross-species, based on the compound eyes, and had a furry collar around his neck and shoulders. his fingers had small hooks on the ends of them and two stingers emerging from his wrists. Grey could see that he had several injuries, some old and some more recent.

All of this just confirmed his suspicion: He was currently in an underground cross-species fighting racket. Now he was even more pissed off.

Grey snarled as someone in a monster mask, similar to Mr. Mask's, got up on a platform and tapped the mouth of their mask.

"We got a newcomer to the ring tonight! Don't let appearances fool you! He's got the attitude of a komodo!" The announcer shouted. Grey resisted the urge to snarl. He could tell that such an action would only encourage the crowds. Instead, he turned to his 'opponent' who was glaring at him while flexing his fingers. Grey's arms morphed into their reptilian form and he settled into a crouch.

"FIGHT!"

Immediately the cross-species charged Grey, who used his armored scales to block the stingers before driving his fist into his opponent's stomach, causing him to double over.

"Sorry about this." Grey muttered before delivering a knockout blow. The crowd was silent for a moment before it began shouting again. Grey couldn't tell if it was cheers or jeers, but he didn't care either way. Everyone who was taking joy in this sick game was going to be getting a hot, hearty helping of justice when he made his move. He just had to figure out that move first.

The doors opened, and two men came from either door, all heavily armed. Grey went with one group while the other group picked up the cross-species Grey had just defeated and dragged him out of the arena. Being forced to fight another cross-species in an arena really left a bad taste in Grey's mouth, and only cemented his resolve to burn this place to the ground.

 _Okay, don't do anything reckless. Considering that I'm stuck down here, I need to conserve as much gamma as I possibly can. Which is gonna be a problem when I sleep. Okay, now this turning into more than just shutting down cross-species dog-fighting, now it's a fight for survival in more ways than one. Fantastic. Okay, so my gamma reserves were topped off when I was kidnapped, and they haven't depleted enough that I can notice, so I got about a week and a half before I run dry. Of course, my body will start becoming damaged at about the four-day mark, so I gotta be really smart about this and NOT use anything that boosts my strength at the expense of gamma energy. Should be easy enough, considering I have some formal combat training and I'm way stronger than the average cross-species. All I need is an opening. Just one opening. Don't know what that opening will be, but I'll find it._

When Grey was put back in his cell, he noticed that it wasn't 'his' cell. It was a bit cleaner and had bars on multiple sides, instead of just one. These ones were also probably electrified. He could see several cross-species in the cells, all looking pretty beat up, but not as bad as where he had started.

It was a few more minutes before he received another visit from Mr. Mask.

"Impressive performance. You really drummed up some excitement. Luckily no one recognized you, but still. You brought in quite a bit of money. We'll be moving you up to the more expensive fights next. Keep this up and you might make the championship before we move out!" Mr. Mask mockingly complimented. Grey snarled at him.

"When I get out of here, I am going to consider peeling your face off along with that mask." Grey hissed. Mask just shrugged and walked out of the room. Grey spat before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He had to conserve whatever energy he could if he was going to get out of this.

* * *

 _The next day…_

Grey scowled the whole way down to the ring. He'd basically been spent most of his time awake forced to watch as cross-species were paraded in front of him off to do whatever dehumanizing shit that Mask had kidnapped them for, be it cage-fights or… Ugh.

He was led to a different arena this time. It was constructed like a cheap boxing ring, only a bit bigger and octagonal. It also had a more well-maintained cage. He looked down at the ring floor, which looked like it had been hastily cleaned. Cleaned of what, he could only guess.

The doors opposite to Grey swung open and his opponent walked through the door. It was a female bird cross-species. She had gold falcon eyes and feathers framing her face. Her hands and feet were both talons, which Grey made extra mental note of. Aside from that, she had feathers on her forearms and her lower legs.

She took up a stance that suggested she had formal training, which immediately put Grey on edge. Scales spread down his arms, legs and torso as he dropped into his crouched stance, his eyes flicking to the masked announcer.

"FIGHT!"

His opponent slowly advanced, her talons scratching at the floor. Grey bared his teeth and growled, trying to throw her off, but she seemed to have seen that tactic before, as she wasn't visibly phased by it. Instead, she lashed out with her talons, immediately forcing Grey onto the defensive. He could see a sort of mania in her eyes. Given the fact that she had plenty of visible scars on her arms legs, plus whatever scars he couldn't see, he suspected she'd been here for quite some time.

Suddenly his opponent spun and through a roundhouse kick, catching him in the side! Thankfully, his scales prevented the talons from doing any serious damage, but he still felt the hit. Whoever she was, this cross-species had plenty of formal training. Grey snarled and advanced, throwing a few punches which easily broke down his opponent's defenses before he landed a vicious uppercut that sent his opponent hurtling through the air! She hit the mat and tried to get up, only to fall back down. Grey walked over to make sure she was alright and muttered another apology before the doors opened to take the cross-species back to their cells. And then came the customary visit from Mr. Mask.

"Excellent performance today! That one was considered a contender for the championship slot and you floored it in under two minutes! However, I will say that the short fights are starting to get rather boring. We might have to start having tag-team matches to even things out. Well, after the championship match that is." Mask informed him amicably. Grey paid him no mind, instead trying to figure out how he was going to break free. Based on what he had seen, the time where there was the least security to get in his way was during the matches, but that still left him needing to get out of the cage. And he had a feeling that a championship match would not be a chain-link fence that he could just rip through. Plus, it was almost a guarantee that the cage would be electrified. So far, his only options were to use something to protect himself from the electricity (unlikely since there was likely no rubber or insulating material within arms reach in the cage) or he would just have to power through the electricity. Or come up with some third option mid-fight. Likely the second or third option.

Plus, he was starting to feel the effects of missing gamma energy. He could still go for a couple more days, but he'd all but guaranteed to be hospitalized until his body could rebalance itself. Of course, that all assumed he was able to survive and escape this place.

Grey took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. At the moment, his life practically depended on him escaping tomorrow, so he was just going to have to improvise. No pressure, right?

* * *

 _The next day…_

Grey sat in his cell, trying to withdraw as much of the gamma radiation his body was emitting back into himself. His reserves were running lower than he'd initially thought. Today really was going to be his only shot at escape.

He'd been isolated from the other cross-species several hours ago, probably in preparation for the big fight he was going to be thrown into some time soon. Or just to screw with him. He was thinking that the motivation lay somewhere closer to the latter. Plus, they probably didn't want him to make any mental notes of his location.

As Grey waited patiently (not really) for Mask's lackeys to come and get him for the big 'championship' fight. Soon enough, his 'patience' was rewarded when four armed men walked in and unlocked his cell. Grey got to his feet and followed them out as they led him through the hallways until they reached a large room with another octagonal fighting ring. This one looked to be of much higher quality and the cage around it was made of proper metal bars instead of chain-link fence. Grey stepped into the ring and winced as his eyes adjusted to the floodlights. He immediately heard the announcer rattling something off about the match, getting the crowd excited. Every one of the cheers just made Grey's blood boil. He scanned the crowd, searching for where his masked captor was watching from, assuming he was watching. Then he noticed a rather lavish-looking box seat that seemed like the most likely spot. That would be the first place he'd be gunning for when he broke out.

"… and now, our champion! I present to you, the King of the ring!"

Grey turned as the announcer finished shouting to see the champion lumbering towards him. It was fairly easy to discern why this one was the champion. The champion was a seven-foot-tall mountain gorilla cross-species and also sported fur that indicated he was a silverback. He was covered in scars and had an almost deranged look in his eyes.

The champion snarled at him and stood waiting, muscles tensed to spring forward and pound Grey into paste. Grey's arms went reptilian, as did his eyes as he snarled back.

"FIGHT!"

Immediately, the gorilla cross-species charged forward with surprising speed and swatted Grey in the side, sending him tumbling across the arena! Grey scrambled to his feet and winced. That blow felt like it might have cracked something! He rose to his feet just in time to see the champion barreling towards him! Grey dropped his stance and charged forward, driving his shoulder into the champion's chest! The champion gasped in pain and shock before Grey followed up with an uppercut that launched the champion into the air. The champion staggered to his feet and grunted before letting out a guttural bellow and charging Grey again. Grey answered with his own charge and the two collided in the center of the ring! Grey was immediately put on the defensive by the champion's speed and ferocity. The extra height that the champion had on him probably didn't help either. Grey snarled as he lashed out with his claws, causing the champion to recoil in surprise, which Grey immediately followed up with straight punch to the chest!

This didn't have quite the effect that Grey wanted, as the champion swiftly recovered and slammed a fist down on Grey, knocking him to the ground. The champion then raised his fists and slammed them down again on him, causing a couple of Grey's ribs to crack! Grey's eyes widened, and he coughed up a globule of blood before instincts took over. He'd had enough. His blood vessels started to pulse blue rapidly before his skin began to glow as well. Seconds later, a pulse of blue energy erupted from Grey's body in a bubble that threw the champion into the bars surrounding the ring! Additionally, the floodlights began overloading, bulbs bursting and the power that electrified the cage shut off completely! Grey stumbled to his feet, his skin an angry red color, like a sunburn. He shouted angrily over the panicked shouting and screaming of the audience, who had just realized was in the ring and how much trouble they were all in. Grey leapt at the cage and ripped the bars away before leaping up to the luxury box he'd spotted earlier, the blue glow returning to his blood vessels as he did. He could see people scrambling to get out of his way as well. He performed one last leap and smashed through the box to see Mask scrambling for the door! Grey immediately rushed forward and slammed into Mask, going straight through the door in the process! He could hear Mask's guards rushing him to stop him, so he spun around and crushed their guns with his bare hands before slamming their heads together. He turned back to Mask, who was lying on the ground, gasping for breath. Grey grabbed him by his suit shirt and easily hefted him up from the ground and ripped off the mask. What was underneath disgusted Grey. Underneath the man was unremarkable, except for two serpentine eyes.

"Of all the possible scum that could have been running this show… You know, I feel like I should be completely floored by this, but somehow, I'm not. Then again, I could just be so pissed off that it's impossible for me to feel any way other than pissed off." Grey spat out. The man grunted and glared back at him. He could see fangs in the man's mouth as well. Grey grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up in the air.

"Now, where is…" Grey started before he several more guards rounded the corner, aiming their guns at him. Grey snarled and jumped out of the way of the bullets before tearing a massive piece of concrete out of the wall. He rounded the corner and ran down the length of the corridor, slamming it into the goons, who were knocked out within moments. He turned and stalked back to the snake cross-species who was running the show. As he got closer though, the cross-species suddenly shrieked and lunged at him, mouth dislocating and fangs curling forward to strike! Immediately, Grey's gamma output spiked as he avoided the bite and grabbed the cross-species by the face with his clawed hand and slammed him head-first into the floor! When Grey removed his hand, he realized that he'd been outputting enough heat to burn his claw print onto the cross-species' face. Grey reigned himself in and grabbed the cross-species by the back of his neck and started searching the corridors for a way out.

That search soon came to an end when he heard sirens outside and then detected a couple of gamma signatures. Given the level they were sitting at, he had to assume they were Gen-1 cross-species. A couple minutes later, he came face to face with a squad of police officers, intermixed with a few members of Monarch's personal security.

Grey was escorted out with his prisoner, wincing a bit from the sunlight. He could see a few dozen people, some of them obvious 'employees' of Grey's prisoner, others were spectators for the fights and a few people that Grey didn't care why were there.

Among his rescuers were Sabrina and Jack, the former of which was glaring at him.

"Only you. Only you could have gotten yourself wrapped up in this." Sabrina growled at him. Grey couldn't really find anything to disagree with in that statement. He did find himself wrapped up in these situations quite a bit. Jack looked at the cross-species, deliberately avoiding looking at the claw-shaped burn on his face.

"What did he do?" Jack asked. Grey spat to the side.

"He was running a cross-species fighting racket. As in, dog-fighting, but cross-species. I happened across them when a couple of their goons were kidnapping a cross-species and I got really careless. He said he was moving operations after he got me, and he knew who I was. I scared him enough to move his sick business somewhere else after this. Oh, and the fights are the only thing we know about. I'd bet a few fingers that he's running more than just that."

Sabrina and Jack were horrified. Grey leaned against the van as he felt himself coming down off his massive adrenaline rush, coupled with the gamma charge.

"Say, you got anything to recharge my gamma supply? I'm starting to feel the effects of running on empty." Grey muttered.

* * *

 _Several days later…_

Grey pulled up in a Monarch company car in front of a hotel. He got out of the car and waited in front for his unexpecting guest.

A few minutes later, Robert Keis' son walked out the door with a couple of bodyguards and saw Grey standing there, looking at him. There were a few moments before the recognition kicked in and he tensed up.

"So, almost two weeks later and NOW you respond? And in person?" Keis' son challenged. Grey stood there impassively and took a deep breath.

"Kid, do you know why your father hasn't done what you've done? Have you honestly sat down and thought about it?" Grey asked evenly. Keis' son didn't stop glaring, so Grey took it as an invitation for him to continue.

"He didn't because he's afraid he might actually lose this. He wasn't happy when you went public like this, was he? Because it's drawing eyes where he doesn't want them to look." Grey replied. Keis' son spluttered angrily but was interrupted by Grey.

"You are right in that your sister's 'mysterious disappearance' is partially our responsibility. Hell, the lion's share probably belongs with me because I was stupid. But it isn't for the reason you think." Grey admitted. Keis' son took it as an opening.

"Then you admit you kidnapped her! If you think that you can get away…" He started, only for Grey to shoot him a look that immediately shut him up.

"Look, there's a small window I have here. I'm technically not supposed to be talking to you, but it isn't fair to you to be kept in the dark by both parties involved. I'm offering you one chance, let me repeat, ONE CHANCE to find out the whole story behind what's going on before this whole debacle goes to court. Quite frankly, I should be either helping with that E.V.O situation we've had on our plates for the last three years or hunting down a cross-species trafficking ring. But instead of doing either of those, I'm going against instruction and giving you a one-time deal. Make your decision fast." Grey instructed. Keis' son looked apprehensive for a few moments before nodding his head.

 _A half hour later at a Monarch facility…_

Keis' son looked at his sister in horror. Grey stood a little ways away, letting him process what he was seeing. Ever since they had brought Keis' daughter in after her mutation, they'd kept her in a sensory deprivation environment to try and calm her down. It kept her calm, but only while in the environment. The moment she received too much stimulation, it caused her to freak out.

He explained the situation in-depth to Keis' son before bidding him farewell. But before he left, Keis' son asked him a question.

"Why keep all of this hidden? Why not publicize this and destroy my father's smear campaign against you?"

Grey shook his head.

"Because it would be several types of scummy to weaponize your sister against your father that way. Make no mistake, it will come up in court, but that's it. We're trying to downplay all of this as much as possible. Honestly, no one wants to do the lawsuit, but now that people have an inkling as to what's going on, and you can bet that there are tons of other big corporations that want to experiment in cross-species genetics, we need to show there are consequences to this. Even if it's time-consuming and we have more important things to do." Grey responded.

As Keis' son left, Grey shook his head and walked back inside, wondering just how messed up all of this was going to get before the end.

* * *

 **DEAR GODZILLA, THIS TOOK A LOT LONGER THAN I EXPECTED!**

 **Creativity: END MY SUFFERING! END IT!**

 **Author: Yeah, no kidding. I'm so sorry about that.**

 **I considered splitting this chapter in two, but I couldn't find a good spot to split it. It looks like this actually make 200k words. When I started writing this story, I didn't think I'd be doubling my word record for a story. So, in future stories will probably be shorter. Because this was getting painful by the end of it. Plus, college has resumed, so there's that.**

 **Alright, almost at 6k words for this chapter, that's enough. See ya next week!**


	53. Ticking clock

**Alright, finally getting around to chapter 11!**

 **Creativity: Yeah, this took a wee bit longer than expected.**

 **Author: No kidding. So, it's January 23 as of this writing, so we'll have probably moved the date back for when we release the second wave of chapters, as well as extending the poll time. As of this writing, we have three votes total…**

 **Guys, please go and vote on the poll. Please? I hate begging, but It's kind of disheartening that no one is giving me any feedback on what they want to come after this story is done. Seriously, if half the people who have read about the poll (about 500 by my estimate) went and cast their vote, well, you do the math.**

 **Creativity: You realize it's probably the fact that hardly anyone reads these opening bits, and that people almost never actually bother to read AN chapters.**

 **Author: I know and cork it.**

 **Alright, enough of that! Here's chapter 11 (s3)!**

* * *

Rothstein grunted in discomfort as his A.I. operated luxury van cruised through the Rocky Mountains. He opened a reinforced case in the passenger's seat and removed an autoinjector from within. After making sure it was fully operational, he slammed it into his thigh, injecting the contents into his bloodstream.

He'd managed to develop a medication for the problem of having irradiated shrapnel stuck in his body. It wasn't a full-on cure, but it was at least a hold-over and helped alleviate the symptoms of his conditions. Such symptoms had expanded to sudden flare-ups of pain, the occasional dizzy spell and the occasional heart palpitation. Needless to say, he was running out of time and options. He'd almost considered abandoning his search for Yorburg's vaults and crawling back to E.V.O to beg for them to do something about his condition, but that thought was immediately struck down by the fact that even if he did go back on his hands and knees, E.V.O would likely outright reject him if they didn't kill him, not unless he had something to offer them in exchange.

Hopefully, should he finally have some success in his hunt, he'd be able to offer some of Yorburg's complete research and get back into their good graces that way. As it was, they were the only ones who MIGHT have the technology to both remove the shrapnel and reverse the effects of the radiation. If he couldn't do this, then the medication would probably only last him a few more months before his body acclimated to it and it lost its potency. Then he would die a slow, painful, pathetic death.

It was infuriating to Rothstein, who had worked so hard for the sake of human evolution, contributed so much to E.V.O, to have fought and bled to achieve such stature within E.V.O, only for his end to come like this. From a tiny piece of metal, slowly poisoning him to death.

Rothstein shook his head as he realized he was nearing the location. The vehicle pulled into a spot close to a hiking trail. Rothstein had taken extra care to disguise himself as just another hiker out for day in the mountains. Granted, it might look suspicious that he was out by himself, but it likely wouldn't be an issue if he was climbing out of the vehicle, Rothstein made his way up the trail before turning off the trail and heading towards the base of the mountain. Soon enough, he reached the area he was looking for. He held up a special transmission device and input a code. After a few moments, the wall shimmered and turned into a metal door, which slowly swung open. Rothstein hurried inside and began making his way towards the vault. He'd used a secondary code to disable any traps that Yorburg might have included, so he shouldn't have to worry about obstacles. He was taking no chances this time. Not with his life on the line.

Rothstein forged ahead, praying that he wasn't beaten to the punch by Augustus this time. The boy had beaten him to every single vault so far and was responsible for the irradiated barb that was slowly killing him! It was as if fate had conspired to give Yorburg his vengeance from beyond the grave!

Considering how much Yorburg had molded his nephew to be just like him, it wasn't hard to imagine. With Yorburg's private tutoring and conditioning, he'd turned his nephew into someone just as ambitious and intelligent as himself, possibly even more so. The thought of it wasn't exactly comforting.

Rothstein's musings were interrupted when he came across the room he was searching for. After stepping inside, he examined each of the walls before pressing the transmission device to the wall and inputting a new code. The wall slid back to reveal something that brought tears to Rothstein's eyes. A vault, untouched by Augustus! After making sure it wasn't going to blow up or destroy its contents upon him touching it, he gingerly removed the vault from its hiding place and started to hurry back towards the entrance. He had it! All he had to do was contact E.V.O, humbly apologize for everything, explain the existence of the vaults and offer this one as well as the other locations he had in trade for his life! He was in the clear!

Then he saw the door opening and his heart dropped like a lead balloon. He knew who was going to be on the other side. He desperately reached for his weapon and aimed it down the corridor before firing with reckless abandon! Whoever was opening the door yelped in surprise before throwing themselves out of harm's way! Rothstein ran as fast as he could, adrenaline masking the pain of the shrapnel shifting inside his body. As he exited, he bolted down the trail, firing shots over his shoulder at Augustus! None of the shots hit, but the thermo-nuclear energy did start several small fires that would definitely slow Augustus down in his pursuit. He ran down the trail as fast as he dared, praying desperately that he would reach the van and be in the clear!

As he neared the clearing, his heart started pounding faster! He was so close!

Then a burning pain erupted in his right calf. Rothstein yelled in pain as he fell forward, catching himself on the hood of his van. He looked down at his leg and was horrified to see it now sporting third-degree burns and blisters! He managed to drag himself into the driver's seat, vault in tow, before auto-drive took over and began driving away at speeds well above the established speed-limit.

Rothstein groaned in pain before reaching for another autoinjector. This one was filled with special pain-killers. After jabbing it into his thigh, he reached for the first-aid kit and began dressing his wound, groaning in relief as the pain was numbed. Once his leg was treated as best he could, he pressed several buttons on the dashboard, causing the main screen to turn black. Several moments later, a blurred face appeared.

"Rothstein. It's been a while, hasn't it? Well over two years, if memory serves." The figure responded in a distorted voice.

"Yes, it has been quite a while. I was performing an investigation of sorts, but I do realize how my involvement in several of our recent failures reflects on me, as well as my sudden disappearance. However, I do have something to offer in compensation, as well as for medical aid." Rothstein responded. The figure seemed to shift, probably considering the offer.

"We have a trace on your location. A dispatch will meet you outside the Rocky Mountains and escort you to a facility. We'll discuss your offer in more detail once you reach the facility." The figure instructed. Rothstein nodded and signed off, suddenly feeling a lump in his throat. The die had been cast. Hopefully an entire vault of Yorburg's research and technology, as well as the promise of more would be enough to smooth over the three-year long debacle he'd been wrapped up in as well as take care of his little medical problem.

Hopefully it would be that simple.

* * *

The mess that lay strewn around Augustus would suggest to even a remarkably ignorant person that he was in a very foul mood. Actually, that didn't quite do it justice.

Augustus hadn't even stepped through the doorway into the latest location of his uncle's vaults, when he was nearly killed by someone firing a thermo-nuclear weapon at him! In addition to this, further blasts had started a fire around him that had hampered his progress in giving chase to the thief and leaving him with some mild burns for his trouble! Finally, to cap it all off, even though he managed to hit the thief in the leg with a blast from his weapon, the thief managed to escape! Augustus had immediately run back to his vehicle, which was camouflaged not too far from the mountain and tried to trace the vehicle the thief had escaped in, as well as try to follow the road it had been following, only to come up short! The vehicle must have been equipped with some cloaking technology, considering that even if it was faster than his vehicle, the twisting mountain roads simply wouldn't allow it to reach top speed.

His uncle's research had been stolen from him!

Augustus had immediately started trashing just about everything within arm's reach once he'd gotten back to his current lodgings. So far, he'd worked his way through the kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and about a quarter of the workshop. Augustus glared at the destruction around him. Now he had to decode the next set of coordinates the hard way.

His uncle had left a specialized program behind that contained all the coordinates of vaults, which were hidden behind an incredibly complex encryption program. The first one had decoded itself for him, after video containing his uncle's last wishes reached him, as well as his will that left basically everything he owned to him, sans the vaults, which he had to recover by himself. He'd painstakingly gone about cataloging the traps his uncle had set, learned the ins and outs of every failsafe, gone to every length he could think of to acquire all of the necessary tools he would need to hunt them down! And then that damned thief had the audacity to steal what rightfully belonged to him!?

Augustus grit his teeth and continued to stalk through the rooms of his current home. Without that vault, he didn't have the decoder key needed to get the next set of coordinates, which meant that he was going to be forced to try and decrypt them the old-fashioned way.

After taking a few minutes to calm down, Augustus seated himself at the computer (Which was miraculously undamaged) and set to work on the decryption process. Even A.I. assisted, it would take a while. And he was not A.I. assisted. This was going to take a really long time and lots of coffee and/or alcohol.

* * *

Rothstein sighed with relief as his leg wound was healed with one of the many medical machines that E.V.O had invented. They hadn't done anything permanent for the radioactive barb still stuck in him, but they had given him something to mitigate the effects of the radiation. That made him feel much better than he had felt for a while. Once his leg was properly patched up, he was escorted to the facility's Director, who didn't look very happy.

"Rothstein. I was told you have something to barter with in exchange for medical treatment and handwaving the many… issues that have cropped up in your wake." The Director began without preamble. He was a heavy-set man with thinning hair and wire-rimmed glasses. His small, pale blue eyes were slightly narrowed as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his desk. Rothstein nodded his head, showing no signs of intimidation, though the feeling was creeping into his gut. He pressed a button on the vault, causing it to lift into the air.

"Yes. My departure from E.V.O over two years ago was partly due to fear of the 'failures that cropped up in my wake' as you put it, but also to set out and find these." Rothstein explained. The Director peered closer at the vault.

"And what exactly is it that you have there?" The man inquired. Rothstein allowed himself to crack a small smile.

"This, dear Director, is a specialized vault that Yorburg designed, built and hid for the purpose of concealing his knowledge and technology from everyone but himself. It is one of many, but sadly is the only one I've been able to acquire. Unfortunately, it seems that someone else is in pursuit of them." Rothstein continued, trying to conceal the fact that he knew precisely who had taken the other vaults. He had to be careful of revealing too much about Yorburg's family. If they discovered that Rothstein had concealed Augustus' existence from them, that could paint an even bigger target on his back. Augustus likely had intimate knowledge of E.V.O due to his relationship with Yorburg before he died. Information that E.V.O would likely prefer to STAY in E.V.O.

Additionally, they probably wouldn't be too keen on having another Yorburg in their ranks, especially since Augustus was probably much worse than his uncle. Thus, they would want him dead as soon as possible. Also thus, Rothstein would be held accountable for allowing an outsider to have intimate knowledge of E.V.O's operations, meaning a likely sentence of death. Needless to say, he wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

"Well, this is interesting. How many vaults are left?" The Director asked. Rothstein scrunched his face up in thought.

"I'm not positive, but I don't think many more are left. I managed to find information pointing to the next one being in Africa, though I have yet to decrypt a specific location. It shouldn't take long, but we must be quick if we are to claim this one. I am willing to head the effort in retrieving it and any others. All I ask is to be reinstated as a scientist in service of E.V.O and to have an operation to remove a piece of irradiated shrapnel from my body." Rothstein bargained. He knew that he was coming out of this deal with a loss in the grand scheme of things, but right now he was more concerned with not dying.

"That strikes me as an acceptable deal, but I will have to confirm with the other Directors. I can't imagine they'll vote against acquiring more of Yorburg's knowledge, what with how stingy he was with it. In the meantime, I'd recommend you keep decoding and I'll see about getting a team ready for when the council approves." The Director instructed. Rothstein nodded.

"Excellent. I'll get to work on cracking the last few coordinates." Rothstein responded before leaving the Director's office. He had lots of work to do. Hopefully, the A.I. assistance would help speed up the process. He needed this done as swiftly as possible.

* * *

 _Several days later…_

Rothstein was sitting at his provided desk, working to crack the final digits of the coordinates he needed to find the next vault. He had decoded enough digits to have triangulated a location in Africa, but he had needed to isolate it further. The area he had narrowed down just had too many potential places to hide a vault location. There weren't any abandoned E.V.O facilities there, so it would have been manually built under Yorburg's supervision, likely with construction robots. It would likely be very small as a consequence of that and have fewer traps within the structure. However, that didn't denounce the possibility of traps being laid in the surrounding area, or other such problems to prevent access to the vaults.

Rothstein's work was interrupted when the Director walked into his office space and sat down opposite him. Rothstein immediately stopped working and turned to the Director.

"You have some news?" Rothstein asked. The Director nodded.

"They've voted in your favor. Almost unanimously, in fact. Also, I arranged for something special to go along with you on the next retrieval." The Director responded before motioning for Rothstein to follow him away from the workstation. Rothstein complied and followed behind the Director further into the facility and through a surprising number of security gates before making into a large room. Each wall was occupied by some sort of console or large data bank. Wires ran up the walls and across the ceiling, and across the floor, most of them leading to a large machine in the middle of the room. It looked to be a sort of table on an incline, with a large humanoid machine resting on it. Most of the wires collected in the back of the table, which then connected through said table to the back of the machine's 'head', but some of them did go to other parts of the body. Rothstein looked the machine over a few times before turning back to the Director.

"Interesting. Is it a new machine soldier? I've certainly never seen some of this technology before." Rothstein inquired. The Director shook his head.

"No. This is a prototype cybernetic casing that's finally being properly tested. We recently acquired a test subject for the casing and so far, the results look very promising." The Director answered as he walked slowly around the table.

Rothstein approached the table curiously, getting a closer look at the casing. Its design emulated the human appearance rather well, though it did look a bit large to pass for human. Rothstein estimated its height to be about 6.4. The head was concealed by a X-shaped visor which occasionally flashed or blinked in strange patterns. It was an unpainted dark grey and silver in color and upon closer inspection, Rothstein could see what looked like ports for something.

"What are these gaps for? Data connections?" Rothstein inquired. The Director peered at what Rothstein had mentioned before the ghost of a smirk slipped across his lips.

"Well, in addition to the modular casing we designed to easily replaced damaged outer-shielding, we also designed this casing to be capable of connecting to various additional equipment and weaponry, making it completely customizable for a given mission or individual target." The Director informed before leaning back. Rothstein had to admit, it was an impressive piece of work. As he walked around, examining the consoles, as well as the information being input to the case however, he noticed something that made him frown.

"Sir, if I'm interpreting this correctly, I'm not sure this machine is ready. The human brain isn't equipped to handle this sort of strain. It's likely the unit would fail, based on these conditions." Rothstein announced. The Director hand-waved that.

"Oh, that issue is covered. The subject we're using had undergone severe injuries that required cybernetic replacements and augmentations to survive. Part of that reconstructive surgery was to replace a section of damaged brain, as well as add an artificial spinal tap. Now the subject's brain can handle several times the strain that the case would put them through, as well as operate the case with even greater efficiency. In theory, anyway. We intend to make its first official test the mission to retrieve the vault. Do you have any recommendations on what sort of equipment the unit should have for said mission?" The Director asked. Rothstein considered for a few moments before coming to a conclusion.

"I'd recommend heavy armor and weaponry, plus interfacing capability to E.V.O facilities if that isn't already built in. Aside from that, I don't have any immediate thoughts." Rothstein answered. The Director nodded.

"Very well. We'll get have the unit ready for when you head out. You only a have a few digits left, correct?" the Director inquired. Rothstein nodded.

"With the right combination of persistence and luck, I should have the location decoded within a few hours, optimistically of course. Realistically, probably another day or so." Rothstein replied before dipping his head respectfully to the Director, who returned the gesture. Rothstein made his way back to his workstation and got to back to work on the decryption process. He couldn't afford to lose to Augustus even one more time.

* * *

 _3 days later, at Monarch's Vancouver base…_

Grey muttered to himself in irritation as he strode towards Sam's work station. Kei's son had gone and made another headache for them, though it was hardly out of spite this time. He'd retracted his previous statement, citing 'new information' that caused him to reconsider, though he had declined to comment on what that information was, only that the press would find out when the courts allowed them to.

This had sparked a brand-new wave of lunatic journalism that Monarch now had to deal with, which was wearing Grey's patience down even faster. The lunacy he and the others had been through recently with Rothstein, the cross-species trafficking Grey had accidentally stumbled across, the lawsuit and a recent uptake in non-human cross-species activity, Grey was getting worn to his limit. Despite his desperate need for it, a sabbatical or vacation was totally out of the question. He was one of the few Gen-1 cross-species who was capable of handling the lunacy that Monarch now regularly dealt with without additional equipment to supplement his natural abilities. He still HAD equipment and it REALLY helped, but if push came to shove he could make due without it. Same for Sabrina who, while having quite as impressive a power set as him, more than made up for it with formal training and also fighting much smarter than him. Now that she was mission-fit again, she'd started picking up his slack. Click and Barry were helping where they could as well, but that mainly involved evacuations where needed. They simply didn't have the strength to deal with even mid-level non-human cross-species. That didn't stop them from taking risks where necessary, but the payoff for those risks didn't often exceed the consequences. Barry was currently recuperating after an incident where he ended up with both bones in one leg broken, while Click had a concussion. He'd be visiting them, but Sam had contacted him with a probable Rothstein sighting, which he couldn't ignore even if he wanted to.

Speaking of, Grey snapped out of his frustrated muttering when he realized that he was standing just outside of Sam's workstation. And, people were starting to stare at him. Pretending not to notice, Grey walked up to Sam and knocked on his desk.

"You got something?" Grey asked, wincing a bit at the frustration in his voice. Sam didn't seem to react before bringing up several satellite images.

"We have two aircraft converging on roughly the same location in Africa. Seriously, they aren't even trying anymore." Sam remarked. Grey frowned.

"They're both getting desperate. Whatever those stupid boxes are, there must not be many left. Alright, I'll go suit up. We'll need something faster than a helicopter if I'm going to get to Africa in time." Grey remarked. Sam nodded.

"Normally I'd say send whoever was closest, but I don't think they're equipped to handle Rothstein or his competition. We still alerted the African government to keep an eye out and deployed a team to at least keep them occupied until you and your team can get there." Sam informed him. Grey nodded.

"Say, how come you couldn't just tell me this over comms?" Grey asked. Sam smirked a bit.

"Because I was sent these from R&D earlier, since it was quicker to get them here than collecting them from your locker." He said before retrieving a large case from beside him that Grey had failed to notice earlier. Grey took the case and opened it before whistling. Inside was a brand-new suit. It looked much sleeker than his old one and looked to be made of different material, with its smoother appearance. Another small change was the fact that it also featured sleeves over his shoulder, as opposed to just being bare-shouldered. The gauntlets were also much sleeker in appearance; more rounded and a bit smaller.

Grey put the gauntlets down and checked the new headset, which also looked to have been trimmed down a bit.

"Ion can explain all the new bells and whistles the gauntlets and the headset have. According to the R&D guys, the suit can store ionizing radiation now and has much more efficient regulation." Sam informed him. Grey nodded before shutting the case.

"Well, it's as good a time as any. I'll meet up with the team and we'll head out. Give the tech boys my thanks." Grey called over his shoulder as he left to go change.

Several minutes later, he was on his way to the roof. He wasn't sure why they had been told to come here, since they needed something faster than a helicopter if they were gonna make it to Africa in time. Along the way he came across Sabrina, who was heading towards the roof as well. She'd also gotten a new suit, similar to his, but different in a few ways. For one, the sleeves came down to her elbows instead of stopping just past the shoulder. Aside from that, the main differences were in the color and patterning. While Grey's suit was charcoal colored with translucent lines that glowed electric blue when he channeled radiation through his body, Sabrina's suit was a noticeably lighter shade, more akin to ash, with a different patterning for the pathways that the radiation would follow.

"So, any clue why we're heading to the roof?" Grey asked her as they made their way further up the roof.

"Not sure if this is why, but I did hear Graham mention a new transport that should be much faster than what we've had up until this point. Maybe we're going to be giving it a test run." Sabrina responded thoughtfully. Now, that had Grey curious. He knew that Monarch was working on response vehicles so that they could get their big guns wherever they needed them to be in the world in record time, but last he heard they hadn't made much progress on them. Of course, his busy schedule kept him from staying up-to-date with Monarch's technological advances, but he would have thought he'd heard something about a significant new vehicle.

"Oh yeah, that thing!"

Sabrina and Grey jumped a bit as they turned to see someone they weren't expecting. Standing there in full kit was Emma. Grey winced a bit when he saw a few of the souvenirs she had brought back from Skull Island. They'd managed to treat most of her wounds, but she was still left with a burn scar on the left side of her face, with the feathers that normally occupied the area never to grow back. She'd also been pretty weak and emaciated from being treated for radiation poisoning. She seemed to have recovered from it just fine, but Grey still couldn't help but question whether or not she should be coming with on a mission like this. Especially when it was almost the exact same mission that had nearly gotten her killed in the first place.

Sabrina looked apprehensive too, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she opted to instead question Emma on what she knew about the transport.

"Oh, I was talking with one of the R&D guys while I was picking up my gear for the mission and he mentioned we were taking one of the new transports they whipped up. Speaking of, we should probably pick up the pace a bit, don't you think?" Emma mentioned. Grey nodded.

"Alright. Let's get him this time." Grey resolved. The group made their way to the roof. This time, they were going to catch Rothstein. No more escapes, no more disasters. They were putting an end to this debacle once and for all.

* * *

 **Well, this chapter didn't shake out QUITE like I intended, but I think it works out better this way. I'll go into more detail on why that is later, but I think this is a good place to leave it.**

 **Creativity: 3 down, five to go.**

 **Author: Yup. Oh, and I finally picked up a PS4 and KH3 (By the time this comes out, we'll be in the middle to end of March, so spoilers are fair game) and it is AWESOME! Now, I know I didn't post this anywhere previously, but when I saw the Guardian rebel against Terranort and then start talking in Terra's voice, my first reaction was: "Well, I sure hope someone picks up that phone, BECAUSE I F* CALLED IT!"**

 **Alright, enough gushing and rambling (As if. HAHAHAHAH!) See ya next week!**


	54. Enter the Endgame

**Welcome back ye fellow freaks!**

 **Author: Really? That's how you're welcoming them? And who gave you permission to use the microphone?**

 **Creativity: Ummmm… I'll just let myself out!**

 **Author: Not so fast! (Hits button on elaborate easy chair, causing arms with duct tape to erupt from the ground and mummify Creativity)**

 **Author: Perfect! Now, I'll deal with you after I finish the intro.**

 **Welcome back! So, its currently February 4** **th** **as of this writing, so we're getting there. I have a cold right now, so that's messing with me a bit, but it's not as bad as it could be. This is chapter four of eight for the second half of the season, and I got a feeling this one is gonna be good. Like, really good.**

 **I think I'll just leave it at that and let you see what I'm talking about. I present unto you, chapter 12 (3)!**

* * *

Augustus was torn between wanting to curse or whoop with joy. According to his vehicle's radar, another ship was approaching on a trajectory that looked to intersect very close to the vault location. It was likely the thief, come to steal from him again. Needless to say, Augustus had no interest in letting him get away this time. No, he was going to make sure the filth was subdued before retrieving the vault, then he would take his time torturing the information he wanted out of the thief, then leaving him somewhere inhospitable to die. He was currently leaning towards a second trip to Skull Island, though Everest and the Sahara were also up there. He'd have to stop and consider which one would be the most miserable death of them all.

His musings on how best to punish the thief were interrupted by the radar indicating a slower moving vehicle heading roughly towards the same direction. It was probably land-moving, based on the speed and more erratic movement pattern, though it was moving faster than the sort of land-vehicle he'd expect to find out here (Almost none, but you get the picture).

Of course, based on this information, he had to guess it was either the African government that sent them at Monarch's warning, or it was Monarch themselves. Neither of those was a good option, but he was more than confident in being able to work around the African government. If it was Monarch itself, that would present a whole other issue, since they would likely have sent their pet cross-species. He'd become rather irked by the fact that he always had that thief and Monarch's dogs nipping at his heels. Perhaps this was an opportunity to do something about that.

He had brought along a few extra utility items for emergencies that could prove very useful, especially if Monarch's cross-species were on their way.

The more Augustus considered it, the more he realized that whether or not the approaching vehicle was Monarch's, he'd likely be running into the interlopers again. It was inevitable at this point.

Augustus grinned darkly. Now that he thought about it, he had something to REALLY mess with Monarch if they showed their faces today.

* * *

Rothstein couldn't help but feel a bit disconcerted with the hulking metal behemoth standing behind him. The prototype cyborg unit hadn't said a word since Rothstein and it had boarded the transport and set off for Africa. In actuality, Rothstein wasn't sure it even could speak, considering that it never vocally responded when prompted. It usually just dipped its head or gave some other non-verbal acknowledgement. Currently, its chassis was covered with specially designed equipment, sporting a pair of shoulder-mounted heavy cannons, thick armor that was graded for thermo-nuclear blasts, arm-mounted machine guns, heavy short blades in the wrists and jet boosters installed in the feet. While the armor and weapons did slow the unit down and reduce general mobility, the jet booster could compensate for some time. The unit was powered by a nuclear core, which also powered the jet boosters. However, that didn't mean that the boots could operate perpetually. They simply took much power to do that. So, they acted as a method of covering much more distance with a single jump. Once airborne, the unit could use the boosters to gain some basic mobility and additional airtime, but not much. That was one thing Rothstein would recommend they find a solution for. Maybe a secondary core that could be installed separately to offset the high amount of energy spent on just one jump.

Rothstein's musings were interrupted by the console in front of him beeping urgently. Rothstein normally would have cursed, but by now this was just par for the course. Two more vehicles were converging on the Vault location, one definitely being Augustus and the other likely being Monarch, though it did seem unusual that they would be going by land-based transport.

Rothstein let the autopilot take control and decided to take stock of all of his equipment. He had his personal weapon, a brand-new thermonuclear hand cannon that featured not just an overcharge setting, but an automatic and semi-automatic mode. He'd likely stick to the manual mode, as he didn't have as much training with firearms as some of his colleagues, but the options were there if he needed them. Aside from that, he had body armor in the form of a vest, made of an incredibly tough material that could take shots from a high-caliber sniper rifle and defend against thermonuclear blasts. He would have asked for more armor, but they didn't exactly have any in his size.

Aside from the weapon and armor, he also had a code-breaking tool, several small explosives, an emergency aid kit for just about everything he could suffer on this mission, short of crippling or killing him. There were also several other small gadgets, but they were for very specific purposes, and likely wouldn't get any use on this mission.

Rothstein took a few deep breaths to calm himself. While he felt the odds were in his favor for the all but guaranteed upcoming skirmish, he still couldn't help but feel the pressure upon him. This retrieval would all but certainly determine whether or not he lived or died. Success meant him being returned to E.V.O's fold and receiving treatment for the toxic barb in his body, while failure would leave him alone and all but guaranteed to die.

A sudden movement by the cyborg unit caused Rothstein to jump before sucking in a breath to calm himself again. After checking the radar and GPS, he found that they were approaching the landing site. There was likely a border of traps around the vault location, so they were landing just outside the estimated border to prevent any of those traps from being set off.

The unit stood up and waited attentively as the transport touched down. The ramp descended, letting the African sun flood into the transport. Rothstein covered his eyes as he walked out, slipping on a pair of sunglasses to help while his vision adjusted. After a few more minutes of walking, they were close to the vault location. It concealed in a large plateau, likely revealed by transmitting the right code on the right frequency. First though, they had to determine what traps were concealed around the plateau.

Rothstein retrieved one of the gadgets he'd brought with him and tossed it into the theoretical 'danger zone'.

As soon as the device hit the ground, it suddenly bounced back up and began floating before the outer shell of the device separated from the rest of the device, and several forks of electricity shot out of the device and into the ground!

Almost immediately, several turrets erupted from the ground in a spray of dirt, laser tracking homing in on the device before blasting it to smithereens! Rothstein had expected turrets, but those looked like a bit overkill. He hadn't had very long to look, but they looked like old E.V.O model turrets that were designed for taking out tanks. Though now that he thought about it, it made sense that Yorburg would want to take precautions against a more robust vehicle being used to gain entry into the vaults. Most of the other locations took advantage of the natural surroundings to solve that problem, but not this one.

Rothstein turned to the unit, which was staring at the proverbial (And somewhat literal) minefield.

"Can you disarm the turrets?" Rothstein asked. The unit simply stepped forward and primed its shoulder cannons. There was a terrific _BANG_ as the cannons fired at one of the turret locations, causing it blow up in a spectacular manner! Rothstein could see vapor trails left behind by the projectiles, which lingered much longer than he would have thought.

He was jolted back to reality when he heard another loud _BANG!_ The unit was dispatching each of the turrets one by one until there was none left. With that out of the way, the unit advanced forward, its footsteps each making a distinctive _thump_ from all of the weight of its additional equipment.

Rothstein took a few steps forward, only for the unit to cut him off and advance forward itself. Rothstein tried advancing again and was relieved when the unit didn't cut him off again. He didn't know whether it was just being cautious and keeping him alive, or it was taking charge of the mission to make sure that Rothstein didn't run off with the vault, but as long as it didn't kill or maim him, it really didn't matter. All that mattered was getting that damn box out of here and away from Monarch and Augustus, then get it back to E.V.O in trade for his life. Nice and simple.

If only it was that simple. The unit suddenly stopped and primed its guns before firing! Rothstein tensed and clumsily yanked his weapon from its holster and primed it. He could already hazard a guess as to who it was the unit was attacking. A brief flash of movement was immediately met with machine-gun fire from the unit, who Rothstein expected to advance forward, but instead positioned itself between Rothstein and the interloper.

Of course, the sound of an approaching engine just made Rothstein groan. That would be the third party.

" _Typical…"_ Rothstein thought. He had to move quickly. He hurried over to where the plateau and pulled out the transmitter he needed before tuning the frequency pattern and wavelength to the 'key' frequency. There'd been a pattern that Rothstein had taken note of during the last few times he'd used this device, so it didn't take as long to decipher. Once the door slid open, both he and the unit slipped inside, waiting until the door shut before slowly advancing down the hallway. The unit took point while Rothstein kept an eye of the door, his weapon shaking in his hands, ever so slightly. Perhaps, being the one to make the initial retrieval wasn't the best idea, but it at least kept him out of the line of fire for some time and would force Augustus to deal with the third party, possibly leaving one or both unable to pursue him. Plus, he had the unit to assist him. As it was, most of the factors were in his favor. At least, he hoped they were.

* * *

Augustus snarled angrily as he watched the doors to his uncle's Vault facility shut, locking him out. He would have followed if possible, but with the military team that had just shown up, he didn't dare come out into the open. Instead, he primed his weapon and fired it at a nearby rock, causing it to explode in a ball of blue flame, molten rock and dust. That served to warn them to keep out of his line of fire. Now, all he had to do was keep a good charge ready and he could stagger the war machine that the thief had brought with him, potentially killing said thief in the process, while he secured the final vault! Plus, he didn't need to worry about keeping the thief alive! That war robot was obviously a creation of E.V.O, so he could negotiate for the vault or find some other way to get it back, such as his vast knowledge of E.V.O that he could threaten to reveal everything he knew to the world, including base locations, infiltrators of world governments, basically everything that would qualify as grade A dirt.

The standoff with the team that had been sent in was as long as it was tense. Both parties dared not make a move. Augustus knew that he couldn't make a break for the door. He'd be shot in moments, and while his suit did have bullet resistance, he doubted that it would hold up very long against prolonged machine-gun fire from a bare minimum of ten soldiers. On the other hand, he possessed a weapon capable of killing every single one of said soldiers with one shot, so they couldn't approach him either. The only thing that would break this stalemate was for the thief to emerge with the vault, which would immediately result in chaos. Hopefully, Augustus could navigate said chaos and retrieve the vault.

Then the sound of yet another approaching engine filled the air. It was airborne and sounded very different from the engine the soldiers had arrived in. It was rather similar in sound to the nuclear engine that powered several of the vehicles that Augustus had used to reach vault locations. Then he realized what it was and grit his teeth in frustration. Monarch had arrived to make acquiring his property even more difficult.

* * *

Grey stumbled a bit as the transport slowed down. He was still a bit woozy from the sheer speed and acceleration of the new transport, which had gotten them to Africa in under two hours. After it had decelerated enough for the occupants to get up and walk around the cabin, Grey had gone to the change room in the back and pulled on his new suit. After he was done calibrating the gauntlets, Sabrina took her turn in pulling on her new gear. He'd been running through a list of all the features on his new gauntlets and headset when Sabrina walked out of the room and Emma slipped into the change room to put on her own suit. Sabrina returned to her seat and joined Grey in taking a brief look at all the new bells and whistles the tech people had given them.

" _Alright everyone, we're approaching the landing zone in five minutes! Finish your equipment checks and get ready because I'm going to be pulling back to a safe distance while you guys handle all this. Oh, and I'm dropping you off at a distance Emma. You'll be able to make the most of that sniper rifle that way."_ Ion instructed, causing the occupants to jump a bit. Even if they were the one piloting it, it was easy to forget that Ion was in the vehicle.

Grey stood up and grabbed the bar above him as he walked to the doors on either side of the transport. Sabrina did the same, opposite him. A few moments later, Emma joined them, sniper rifle slung over her shoulder.

"Alright, we are actually doing this." Emma muttered under her breath. Grey could hear a stutter in her voice. He frowned. Considering what happened last time, he figured jumping straight into a mission like this was a bad idea on her part. Still, it was too late to back out now. The ramp lowered, and Emma jumped to the ground, sniper rifle clutched in her hands before ducking behind cover. Once they were closer, Grey and Sabrina leapt to the ground and primed their gauntlets before activating their headsets to scan the environment. They could see someone armed with a thermonuclear weapon straight ahead of them (barring the cover they were hiding behind) with one of Monarch's swift response units to their right.

"Alright, so, you want to make a distraction, so I can charge in and get him, or should I do the distraction and you do the charging?" Grey asked. Sabrina glanced over her shoulder.

"Well, I'll be able to cover the distance faster and you're more durable, so, you handle the distraction." She responded. Grey nodded.

"One distraction, coming up!" Grey quipped before leaping over the boulder they were hiding behind and unleashing twin blasts from his gauntlets! Sabrina immediately took off at a sprint around the left, ducking from cover to cover as Grey continued to blast at where the individual was hiding. Soon she'd made it all the way around. She signalled for Grey to advance before getting ready for one last sprint. Grey charged up two more blasts and fired them at the rock, causing it to shake and crack! Sabrina took the opportunity to rush in and disarm them before pinning them against the rock. Grey advanced forward, gauntlets still primed for another shot. Soon he had their quarry in his sights, still pinned to the rock by Sabrina, who was carefully minding not to break limbs or dislocate shoulders, as much as she'd like to.

"Ion, Emma, we have Rothstein's competitor. Stay alert, we don't know where Rothstein is." Grey informed the rest of the team while keeping both gauntlets trained on their captive.

" _Acknowledged."_ Emma replied over comms.

"He's inside the plateau, you idiots! He's stealing my uncle's research! My research by his will!" the captive screamed at them, though his voice was slightly muffled by the rock his face was being pressed against. Grey eyed him for a moment before moving one arm to aim at the plateau.

"Alright, good to know. Emma, keep your rifle trained on the base of the plateau. As for you, maybe you'd like to tell us who you are? It's not like your going anywhere for a while." Grey interrogated. The captive laughed.

"You know what, considering that it won't matter in the long run, I'll be courteous enough to give you a hint! I am the legacy of the greatest man to ever live, who you robbed from the world! And before the year is out, I will exact his revenge! Though, considering the opportunity has presented itself, I think I'll take my own right now!" The captive shouted before flicking both his wrists simultaneously.

Suddenly, the captive's suit erupted with an electrical charge that threw both Sabrina and Grey backwards several feet! He immediately snatched his weapon from where it had been kicked away and opened fire on them! Grey raised his hands in front of his face and rushed forward, ignoring the few shots that hit him. His scales protected him well enough from the basic fire. Unfortunately, it seemed that the former captive had planned for this and removed a small sphere about the size of a walnut from his belt. He then threw it Grey, striking him dead on! The sphere exploded and released an orange mist from inside, which caused Grey to suddenly seize up and drop to the ground, spasming and yelling in pain.

"You know, I kind of wish I could stick around a get a closer look at how this new formula will work, but I'm already busy, unfortunately. But it looks like it's doing something painful and that's good enough for me. Provided you survive, and your Monarch friends can figure you out afterwards, maybe I'll be able to get some more personal vengeance, but I'm content to settle for this." The former captive muttered before he heard the sound of the door to the vault location opening.

"And there's my cue." The former captive muttered as he began charging up his weapon to max charge as he turned and began running towards the door. Once he was close enough, he planted himself firmly and braced himself as he raised the gun towards the entrance, waiting for the large robot to walk out. The moment it was in his sights, he unleashed the full-power blast, wincing at the amount of recoil that was traveling down his arm. Thankfully, the suit he was wearing absorbed enough of the shock that he didn't damage his arm or shoulder. The blast itself struck true and sent the machine flying backwards several feet! Rothstein looked at the machine in shock, which turned to terror as he saw the next blast being aimed at him! He charged for cover but was still caught in the shockwave from the second blast.

* * *

Augustus snarled at having missed his target yet again and broke into a sprint. His opponent had dropped the vault and it was out in the open for him to take! As he went for it though, a concussive blast struck the ground near him! He turned in time to for a second blast to catch him in the chest and throw him against the plateau! Thankfully, his suit protected him from the worst of it, but he'd likely bruise in a few hours. Realizing that he was currently the target of a sniper, Augustus ran for cover, cursing violently as he was driven away from his uncle's vault!

And to make matters worse, the robot was back on its feet and advancing on him! He opened fire on it, trying to drive it back, but the blasts weren't affecting it and he didn't have enough charge left for the blast that stalled it the first time! Then he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was that Monarch girl who had pinned him to the rock! SHE WAS TAKING HIS VAULT!

As much as he wanted to gun her down, he was currently occupied by the giant metal monster that currently had four guns trained on him. Then, all of a sudden, inspiration struck.

"You might just be the exact thing I need to turn this around…" Augustus smirked. He needed to get into that thing's head, and he knew just how to do it…

* * *

The flight to the nearest Monarch facility felt like it was taking ages. After Sabrina managed to swipe whatever the weird box in the back of the transport was, Ion arrived, and the group made a run for it. Monarch forces also managed to arrest Rothstein, who was unconscious and looked like he might not wake up. On top of it all, Grey was screaming bloody murder and contorting in ways that no human or cross-species should be able to. Currently, Sabrina had his left side pinned to the ground while Emma was using the strongest restraints they had to secure his right. Whatever was in that gas that he'd been hit with, the reaction was horrible to witness. Unfortunately, the African branch wasn't equipped for Gen-1 cross-species, thus forcing them to fly all the way back to Vancouver. Ion was pushing the vehicle they were in to it's limit. Thankfully, it was being done gradually enough that Sabrina wasn't being flattened against the wall and could keep Grey restrained. She'd still taken precautions and secured herself nearby just in case.

As soon as they landed, they rushed Grey to the hospital wing and secured him more thoroughly before trying to figure out what was going on with him. After retrieving a blood sample, they began to analyse it for the gas. What they found was more disturbing. Based on the computer simulations based on data from the blood sample, the gas was catalysing what small remnants of the original Gen-1 mutagen were left in his system, essentially causing him the same agony as the original mutation. To what end, they weren't sure.

They kept looking for hours for a solution to the problem, but they couldn't find anything. Grey's voice had given out, but the attempted thrashing and hoarse, scratching noises from his throat indicated that he was still trying to scream.

And then things got so much worse.

"Uh, is it just me, or is he getting scalier?" one of the doctors asked. Indeed, Grey was getting scalier. Starting from his stomach and arms, scales were steadily appearing on his body. His hands became clawed and his eyes shot open, having gone fully reptilian. Not even his sclera could be seen. The doctors backed away in horror as the restraints began to groan in protest before being torn free as Grey tumbled from the hospital bed to the floor. But the horror show was just starting. His back arched as bone spikes began to emerge from his spine. His skull began to change, elongating and becoming almost bear-like in shape. The bones above his eyes grew out, giving his face a permanent scowl. Finally, a tail began to grow from his back to be almost as long as he was tall.

By the end of the transformation, Grey now looked like a rather lanky Godzilla, if Godzilla was eight-and-a-half feet tall.

Everything was still for a second before Grey suddenly roared and smashed his way through the wall and started rampaging through the hallways!

" _Code red, I repeat, code red! All personnel avoid the emergency care and medical research area as well as all adjacent areas! Code red! I repeat, code red!"_

Sabrina, having been present for the rapid mutation/transformation that Grey had undergone, started following the wreckage left in Grey's wake. It didn't take long to catch up. His new body was significantly slower than his normal one.

"Okay, this is going to hurt, but you'll thank me later." She muttered before blasting him in the back to get his attention. It sort of worked. Grey just spun around and lashed out at empty air. His eyes were darting about everywhere and looked really unfocused. Seeing an opportunity, Sabrina darted forward and socked Grey right in the jaw!

This didn't work at all. Instead, she was swatted aside by one of Grey's flailing arms and likely cracked a rib. She grunted in pain as she picked herself and watched as Grey roared and smashed his way down another hallway.

"This isn't going to be fun." She muttered as she ran after, charging up a pair of blasts in her gauntlets before blasting Grey in the back of the head to get his attention before leaping into the air and wrapping an arm around his throat! After swinging around and planting a foot on his back, taking care to avoid the bone spikes coming from his spine, and pulled him into a chokehold. Grey began thrashing about in an even more panicked tone, slamming himself into walls and furniture in an attempt to shake Sabrina off, but she held fast, yelling determinedly as she tightened her grip! Grey's eyes began to tilt back as his oxygen was cut off until he slumped forward. Releasing the hold, Sabrina began gasping for breath before noticing that her side felt warm and wet. She looked down to see that one of Grey's spines had pierced her side while she'd had him in a chokehold. It wasn't serious, but now that the adrenaline was dying down, it hurt like hell.

"Do we have a containment cell ready?" She asked over radio, shortly after informing Graham that she had subdued Grey.

" _It should be ready soon. Start dragging him down to the cell and we'll finish preparations"_ Graham answered. It took longer than anticipated to haul Grey's mutated form down to the containment cell. Hopefully it would be enough to contain them while they tried to figure out how to reverse the effects of the gas.

Luckily, he remained unconscious for many hours. However, there was much panic on what do about him. Panic that was soon replaced with dread when Sam radioed in that something had just on satellite heading towards them at high speed. Everyone thought it was some sort of projectile, but what arrived was arguably worse.

It was the damn robot from Africa that arrived.

" _Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Don't worry, I'm not here to kill you. Well, not yet. You see, earlier today you stole something from me. While I could kill you all for it, that would be a bit excessive for me. So, I'm here to trade both your lives and a little something extra in exchange for the vault you took. Oh, and that little something is the antidote for the concoction I gave your pet cross-species. This deal doesn't last very long, and the machine is equipped with more than enough firepower to kill this entire facility, without the bulky upgrades."_

Sabrina snarled at the robot, but ultimately decided to make a call.

"Go get the box." She growled, her glare not breaking from the robot. Despite protest from Graham to not give the madman what he wanted, she handed over the box. The robot deposited a tube of blue liquid in her hand before turning to fly off with the box.

"Oh, please tell me this won't come to bite us in the ass." She muttered before going to get Graham to analyse the contents of the tube. After a few hours of running every conceivable test that Graham could think of and concluding that the concoction could probably undo the mutation and didn't have anything harmful added to it, they walked down to Grey's holding cell to administer it.

This took much longer than expected, since Grey had woken up by this point and was throwing a bit of a tantrum. After Sabrina managed to wrestle him under control enough to get the antidote injected into him, they exited the room and let it go to work. It took hours, but eventually he reverted back to normal. Well, as normal as he could get.

They weren't sure of any side effects yet, but they had bigger problems. Namely, that whoever had gassed Grey and then provided the antidote was still out there, and likely up to no good.

* * *

 **Alright, I am calling it here! This chapter took way longer than I thought to write! And this is why we've had such a slow time writing these! Not only is writing just slowing down on them, the chapters are just getting longer and longer.**

 **Creativity: Legs… No work… Need doctor…**

 **Author: Holy moley, he's not kidding. Alright, well while he's being shipped off, I have an interesting fact I learned not too long ago! So, did you know that there's a unit of measurement in radiation called a gray? Here's a Wikipedia excerpt to explain it.**

 **The gray (symbol: Gy) is a derived unit of ionizing radiation dose in the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as the absorption of one joule of radiation energy per kilogram of matter.**

 **Kinda cool, right? Makes Grey's name fit even better!**

 **Alright, Author be tired. Author be going to lay down for a bit.**

 **See ya next week!**


	55. Of Men and Monsters

**Alright, chapter 13 of the wrap up season! So, the start of this is being written on February 16** **th** **, so we're a little over half-way through the month. I don't think this chapter will be quite as long, and quite frankly, with how long the other chapters have been, that's fine! Three out of the five I've written season publishing the first eight of the final season have been in excess of 5K words, which is a lot for me. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, but it takes time when you aren't on a passion high.**

 **Creativity: Well, it does help that we have an outline that keeps us on course.**

 **Author: Yeah, it does feel good to have an actual sense of what each chapter is going to look like instead of just having a general beginning, middle and end for the season as a whole. Though, I can't help but wonder if that's a contributing factor to the current situation of the chapters getting ridiculously long.**

 **Welp, nothing we can do about that! Well, aside from maybe trying to trim down the chapters, but where's the fun in that?**

 **Alright, I think that's all I wanted to say. I present unto you chapter 13 of A Very bad Idea (s3)**

* * *

 **Post Completion Edit: So, quick question for my readers. Since I recently (Finally) joined Discord, is anyone interested in me creating a Discord page for my work? Let me know via PM or reviews (preferably PM) if that sounds like a good idea**

* * *

"And you can confirm mission failure?"

"Yes sir. The unit is currently registered as offline, after it had already registered as having experienced a critical error to the mission register. Likely it was this thief that Rothstein claimed was stealing the vaults before he could get them."

The Director that had debriefed Rothstein pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"And what of Rothstein? Is he still alive?" The Director asked the man in charge of monitoring the mission, who shook his head.

"Unsure. Assuming he's alive, he's probably been captured by Monarch or the third party." The man answered. The Director pinched the bridge of his nose even harder.

"What about the termination implant? Is that viable?" The Director asked, looking for some sort of solution. The man just shook his head again.

"No. At least, not right now. Rothstein's chip is still reading as active, but when we tried activating it two years ago, it didn't work. Likely, he's either added a secondary implant that prevents the termination chip from activating, or he's had his surgically removed and keeps it active to fool us into thinking it's still implanted. With all due respect sir, Rothstein would have never let the implant threaten his life if he could do something about it." The man responded.

The Director groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"Wonderful. So, assuming that he isn't dead, we have someone with intimate knowledge of E.V.O in the hands of either someone who already knows about us, considering they already know about Yorburg's vaults or in the hands of Monarch, one of our most valuable prototypes is missing and possibly destroyed, and we've lost our shot at reclaiming some of Yorburg's knowledge. Is there anything else should know about?" The Director grumbled.

" _Well, I suppose you should know that at least one of those problems can be solved."_

There was a sudden silence as the Director and the mission monitor turned to the computer screen, which now displayed a human silhouette backed by static. Fighting every impulse to panic, the Director steeled himself.

"And just who might you be? Not just anyone can access this communications line." The Director probed. The figure just chuckled.

" _One could say I had a man on the inside. All that aside, I came here with a trade offer. You see, I've been collecting the vaults left to me by Dr. Yorburg, and you just so happen to have one of them. I just so happen to be in possession with not only a vast and varied knowledge of E.V.O, including but not limited to base locations, political infiltration, and a few other… compromising details, as well as the machine you sent with the unworthy scum who's been dogging my heels every step of the way. Now, I'm willing to trade back the machine and take a vow of silence regarding E.V.O in exchange for the vault. Additionally, I am willing to offer every single vault back once I have what I want from them. That includes every formula, blueprint, prototype and research note, aside from the few specifics I want. Believe me, there's only one way you can lose in this situation, and the rewards are excellent."_ The figure offered. The Director was gritting his teeth hard behind his lips. He was backed into a corner. Whoever was on the other side of the screen had all the bargaining power. Even if the rewards were as good as advertised, they still had a potential leak outside of E.V.O, which was unacceptable. On the other hand, what could they do? If someone was able to get into E.V.O's communications system from the outside, then they were probably able to mask themselves from being tracked back through the system. They were well and truly cornered.

"Say we agree to your terms. What guarantee do we have that you'll hold up your end of the bargain?" The Director asked. The figure just laughed.

" _Well, I suppose you don't. However, are you really going to roll those dice? Deliver the vault to these coordinates in twenty-four hours, or you'll suddenly find world militaries and Monarch knocking at your doors, not to mention most of the political power you have will go up in smoke in an instant. Either way, I can retrieve the vault. One option is just more annoying than the other. I'm almost excited to see what option you pick. Well, I'll see which one you choose within twenty-four hours."_ The figure answered before vanishing from the screen. The Director wiped his brow, not having realized how stressful that situation had been.

"See if you can trace the signal and send me the provided coordinates. I'm going to put a team together to deliver the vault."

* * *

The last few days had been hell for Grey, though in different ways. Well, there was one thing that persisted across all of them. Pain. Lots of it. Turns out that rapidly changing from a 5.6 teenager (Technically he was a legal adult of age 19, borderline 20, but he still had his sixteen-year-old body) to an 8-foot bipedal reptile with giant spikes coming out of its spine and back was absolute murder on his bones, muscles and most of his internal organs. So, basically everything was in pain for the next few days. Pain set aside though, he still had to deal with a different form of torture almost every day.

The first day was being informed of what had happened to him and that he was going to be stuck in the hospital wing of the Monarch facility for at least a few days. The day after that, he found out that Rothstein was a few doors down and his health was degrading. If he had been able to stand, things probably would have gotten really ugly really fast. And then the next day, which probably had been the worst of them, Graham came back to give him a full rundown on the lingering side effects of the gas had been. Apparently, his organs had dramatically shifted around, and he'd grown a brand new one. Specifically, it was basically a small nuclear generator in the middle of his torso. They'd ran some tests and concluded that he'd have to wear double-strength radiation absorption apparatuses to compensate for the amount of ionizing radiation he was outputting. Honestly, this wasn't the worst thing in the grand scheme of things, but he felt that it inherently took away more of what humanity he had left. He hadn't realized how much he prized how much of it he still had until more of it was gone.

In addition to a few of those changes, his muscles and bones had become even more powerful, as well as much more capable of handling large amounts of ionizing radiation, meaning that going for a full boost would break down his cells at a much slower rate. They'd still break down, but the damage that he was receiving from it was nowhere near as bad as it used to be.

It still made him incredibly sore though. It was like going through a growth spurt, going through a reverse growth spurt, and then going through it again. Thankfully, Graham had given him some painkillers to ease the discomfort.

And that brought us up to the present, where Grey was half-asleep, waiting for his body to finish recovering, when something absolutely weird happened.

"Excuse me? We need to speak to you."

"Oh for crying out loud, I thought Graham said no one was visiting without her." Grey growled tiredly as he cracked open his eyes. However, much to his confusion, there was no one there.

"Okay, am I hearing things?" He muttered.

"Actually, we're to your left. We're sorry for disturbing you, but it is urgent." The pair of voices said again. Grey groaned and rubbed his eyes before turning to the source of the voices. Which just so happened to be a pair of elfin girls standing only a few inches tall, standing on his bedside table. Grey blinked a few times.

"Alright, the next time Graham comes by, I am asking her to take me off the painkillers. I'm also going to ask her exactly what is in them, because I am definitely hallucinating right now." He mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. Then he heard the door open and Graham walked in.

"Hey, doc. Mind taking me off the painkillers? I think something's not mixing quite right with my new physiology. I'm seeing things." He asked Graham, who didn't respond for a few moments.

"One of those things wouldn't happen to be two extremely small girls standing on your bedside table, would it?" Graham asked in a tone that said she was a bit freaked out.

"Yeah, how did you know… They aren't a hallucination, are they…" Grey muttered.

"Not unless I'm also hallucinating the same thing." Graham responded.

"We aren't hallucinations! We are here on behalf of Mothra!" The exclaimed, sounding a bit frustrated.

"Alright, so assuming I'm not crazy, who is Mothra and what do they want?" Grey muttered tiredly as he propped himself up, wincing as his limbs protested. Graham looked ready to try and stop him, but ultimately decided not to. He'd stuck lying in a hospital bed for a while and had likely recovered enough to move his limbs to sit upright.

"Alright, so first order of business: Who or what is Mothra?" Grey asked.

"Mothra is the guardian of this planet and has been since time immemorial. We are the Shobijin, priestess' of Mothra. Her most recent act as guardian of this world was battling the creature you refer to as Biollante alongside Godzilla." They explained. Grey groaned.

"Yeah, I guess with a name like Mothra, we should have guessed. Alright, now why has Mothra sent you two here and more importantly, how did you get in?" He asked that last question rather pointedly. The tiny twins didn't seem to keen on answering the latter.

"Mothra sent us to inform you that Mothra has sensed a new threat the potentially surpasses Godzilla in strength. She does not possess the strength to destroy it and requires Godzilla's aid to stop it." The tiny twins informed them. Grey looked at them, confused.

"Well, that's great to know, on top of everything else we have to deal with, but I still have to ask why you came to us? What does Mothra expect us to do?" Grey asked. Now it was the Shobijin's turn to look confused.

"You are obviously connected to Godzilla. Mothra wished for you to inform Godzilla of this threat so that the two of them may prepare for it." The Shobijin explained, leading Grey to try to smack his forehead.

"Okay, maybe I do have some sort of connection to Godzilla, but I can't actually talk to him. Most of the time, we show up at the same disaster by accident. The only way I could maybe, possibly get his attention is if I plugged myself into a nuclear reactor and emitted a pulse powerful enough for him to take notice. Seriously, what gave you and/or Mothra the idea that I could actively communicate with Godzilla?" He asked, leading the Shobijin looking a bit confused, followed by embarrassed.

"I suppose it was a bit presumptuous of us to assume you had a similar connection to Godzilla that we have with Mothra. At least, right now." The mentioned, to which Grey just grumbled.

"You seem to be taking this pretty well." Graham noted, who seemed to be not taking it as well as Grey.

"Doc, with all the crazy shit I've been through these last three years, going on four, I've kinda just learned to roll with it. We live in a world of monsters the size of skyscrapers, there's a shady underground organization who uses DNA from those monsters to make superhumans, and as a result, I am now part Godzilla. On top of that, now a sizable chunk of the human population is now part animal, we've been chasing a scientist around the globe fore the better part of a year, and we've just been told by twins that are a few inches tall and speak for a giant butterfly that something more powerful than Godzilla is going to attack the world soon. None of this crazy shit makes sense." Grey droned before closing his eyes.

"Now, I'm going to focus on resting up for when the shit really hits the fan. Actually, do you think Rothstein might know something about the problem that the… Shobijin, is that how you say it?"

"Yes." The twins replied promptly.

"Great. Do you think that Rothstein can tell us anything about this threat that the Shobijin just told us about?" Grey asked Graham.

"I'll check as soon as he regains consciousness. Assuming he does regain consciousness. His health is extremely poor, and he likely won't last much longer, whether he wakes up or not." Graham muttered. Grey groaned.

"Well, I guess we aren't really losing anything. Still, I'd like to have a few words with him, considering the hand he played in making all this craziness happen. Well, if nothing else needs to be discussed, I'm going to go back to sleep. Not like I have anything better to do." Grey muttered. Taking this as a cue that the conversation was over, all other parties departed. No one quite knew how the Shobijin left, but no one was around to notice. Grey did as he said he would, and drifted off to sleep, though it didn't come easy. The thought of something out there stronger than Godzilla was not exactly comforting. As destructive as Godzilla was, he was probably preferable to the other giant monsters they'd dealt with over the years.

Hopefully, nothing would take his place to prove that point.

* * *

Augustus was grinning from ear to ear. He had them all. Every single one of his uncle's vaults was in his possession. He was currently running the final decoding process to find the coordinates his uncle had left for him and soon he would proceed to the final stages of his uncle's revenge.

As he waited for the process to complete, he briefly reflected on how satisfying it had felt to exercise total domination over Monarch and E.V.O, if only for a short while. He'd issued his ultimatum to E.V.O while the drone was in transit to Monarch and had felt absolutely giddy when it returned with the vault. The feeling became even better when the E.V.O team delivered the vault and the machine back to them after it brought him the vault. He didn't have any need for it afterwards.

Currently, he was perusing his uncle's final project: The first generation cross-species. With all the encounters he'd had with that project's poster child, he'd developed a fascination with them, as loathe as he was to admit it. If he had access to the resources, he'd have been tempted to try and empower himself similarly, if only to take away the edge that Monarch had. With his uncle's research, he was sure he could improve on the original formula, perhaps overcome its shortcomings.

The chief roadblock was the specific DNA requirements. The initial test-subjects had been born with a unique 'adaptability' gene that was designed to change in response to trauma. It was becoming more and more common as time went on, but it was still very rare. He'd already tested himself for the gene as soon as he'd read the notes but discovered the results to be disappointing. Shortly afterwards, he simply concluded that unlike the Gen-1's, as Monarch had begun to refer to them, he couldn't take shortcuts. He'd have to solve his uncle's formula and perfect it.

As the process concluded, delivering him the coordinates he wanted, he smirked and recorded said coordinates before connecting the vaults in a train before activating the hover function. He had a long trip ahead of him, and plenty of work to do.

* * *

 _One day later…_

Augustus sat at the controls of the special submarine that his uncle had kept in the seaside home that Augustus had been staying in until his most recent voyage. At the moment, he was approaching the boarders of Australia and the coordinates had put the submarine diving down to the seafloor. He started broadcasting the access code that had been provided with the coordinates, causing the massive ocean-bed door to open, creating a massive vortex of water just out of range of the submarine. Soon the vortex stopped, and the ocean settled. Augustus maneuvered the submarine into the docking bay and parked it on massive gantries and supports and waited for the water to drain away. Once the automated signal to disembark flashed on, Augustus took all of his gear and stepped into the facility. According to the information left behind, this facility had been where a large portion of the first version of Mecha-Godzilla had been constructed before being placed under suspension for so long that it had been considered abandoned. It wasn't until his uncle arrived that the facility was given new purpose; to cultivate the ultimate instrument of Yorburg's revenge.

And now, finally, Augustus could look upon that instrument for the first time. Contained within a massive silo was a beast of unbridled power and terror. It looked remarkably similar to Godzilla, but its skin was a purple so dark, it was nearly black. Its body was covered with purple-pink crystals, with two massive ones jutting out of its shoulders. It also appeared to have more of a belly than Godzilla and sported two very small tusks coming from just behind its jaw, similar to Biollante, but not nearly as pronounced. The spikes that Godzilla had were mirrored by crystals running down its back, with one massive orange crystal coming from its forehead, almost like a crown. Augustus found it fitting in a way.

It was incredible.

Augustus stood in awe of his uncle's creation. It had taken almost four years to cultivate it, but it was a well spent four years. It probably would have been done sooner if his uncle could oversee it personally, but that opportunity was robbed from him. Augustus felt a sadness and rage that his uncle couldn't be there to witness the final result of his magnum opus.

"Alright uncle. We're almost done. Just a few small things left to take care of…" Augustus murmured as he retrieved his uncle's notes on the Gen-1 mutagen and began picking them over. He had plenty of work to do.

* * *

 **Well, we've finally come back to it. The monster I was teasing all the way back in season 1 has finally returned. And it is Space Godzilla. Much like Biollante, this felt like something that just needed to happen.**

 **Creativity: AND THIS CHAPTER DIDN'T TAKE FOREVER TO WRITE!**

 **Author: Yes, that does feel pretty good. It only took us three days this time.**

 **Honestly, not much to say here. Aside from relief that we aren't going to be doing another brain-buster of a chapter, we don't have much to say. And there's a reason for that.**

 **We're in the endgame now.**

 **Alright, Marvel reference out of the way, I think it's time to sign off.**

 **See ya next week!**


	56. Omega Unleashed

**Alright, chapter 14 of the wrap-up! I get the feeling that this one's going to be a shorty as well but considering that I did four plus-sized chapters in a row, I think we can afford to cut back.**

 **Creativity: And we still haven't finished the next set of five for Resurgence.**

 **Author: By the time this publishes, we might have by then. It's just not a high priority right now. Honestly, as long as we finish it before the 'big one', I think we'll be fine.**

 **So, as a time-stamp, today is February 20** **th** **. We've got five of eight chapters written, a little over two chapters for the next set of Resurgence finished, and four chapters of Limit Breaker published. Additionally, we've got thoughts floating around for how we want to do the three stories that are up for poll.**

 **Probably going to be shorter than initially anticipated but having hit two 100k stories and remising on the time and effort that went into them, I think dialing it back is a good idea.**

 **Creativity: You're rambling.**

 **Author: Right. Sorry.**

 **Alright, I think that's enough of that! I present unto you chapter 14 (s3)!**

* * *

Augustus cursed as the most recent simulation he'd run had turned up negative once again. He was so close to cracking it, he could feel it! The problem he was currently trying to overcome was getting the new formula to properly bind to a subject's DNA, thus triggering the mutation. If the binding process wasn't done with surgical precision, it could lead to all sorts of… unpleasantness.

He went back to the formula that had just been tested and began running through all the elements and compounds he could think of. He'd crossed many of the chemical bindings that he knew of off the list. Then it struck him, and he felt like a fool. He immediately began rifling through the vaults before he found a massive catalogue of all the compounds his uncle had managed to acquire information on, and sorted by number of elements used, complexity, different ionic variations, practical uses and many more. After finding the binding agents, he began sifting through them, trying to find one that would work with the new formula he was creating.

After crossing a number of them off the list, he decided to take a break. He'd been trying to solve this formula for the better part of a few days, and while he'd had breakthroughs, he'd suffered numerous setbacks and other delays that were starting to get more and more irritating. Maybe a break would allow his brain to quietly keep picking apart the problem to find the solution.

As he walked away from his workstation, he wandered back into the massive chamber that contained his uncle's masterpiece. He'd taken to referring to the creature as Godzilla Omega, or just Omega for short. He found the creature nothing short of breathtaking. In his downtime, he taken to reviewing the project file his uncle had created for the creature and maintained by the small army of A.I. that he had acquired to continue cultivating the creature. According to the file, the creature had been created from a sample of Godzilla's DNA that they had grown into a large slab to continue harvesting more DNA from. Apparently, this slab had started to mutate in ways that the council of Directors deemed undesirable and mandated that the sample be destroyed and a new one acquired. Before it had been destroyed, his uncle had acquired one final sample and started using it to grow a new creature in secret. He'd converted the massive construction silo into a massive tank for the creature to grow in. For the first year-and-a-half it had been basically a giant, fleshy cocoon that grew until it was roughly one hundred seventy-five feet tall. Then it seemed to… rupture and the cocoon fell away, revealing the creature. The lacerations in the cocoon were likely caused by the crystals that had been growing out of Omega's back. Now, the creature was an easy 400 feet tall, easily capable of going toe to toe with Godzilla. And if all went well, that power would soon belong to Augustus as well.

If there was one thing Augustus had come to expect, it was that those Monarch dogs would be coming for him and would eventually find him. Especially the one that he'd gassed, then provided an antidote for. Assuming he was still alive and possessed of his cognitive faculties and motor skills. While Augustus was cunning and had plenty of resources at his disposal, he had to hand it to those Monarch cross-species. They were tenacious, above all else.

Which meant that if he wanted to put them down personally, he'd have to be able to face them on equal footing. Perhaps he could accomplish something similar, or even better with cybernetic enhancement, but it didn't feel like enough. There was something poetic to them being destroyed by one final cross-species. Him.

Of course, that wouldn't be happening if he didn't finish the formula. Augustus continued to gaze upon Omega's sleeping form before he suddenly felt inspiration strike!

"Perhaps with that combination of… and add… Yes, yes that could work!"

He rushed back to his workstation and began modifying the formula. He was close, so close! If this worked, he would achieve power beyond what even his uncle had dreamed of and be able to take revenge for him and his uncle more… personally.

* * *

Grey groaned with relief as he stood up and leaned from side to side, feeling his joints popping. He was finally clear to start moving around again and he had a lot of pent-up energy to do something about. And, as a bonus, Rothstein had woken up a few hours ago. Unfortunately, it didn't seem he would be awake for very long. The doctors only gave him a few days, maybe a couple weeks at most to live and there was nothing they could do about it. Now that Grey was awake, he was going to take part in Rothstein's questioning.

It was strange. Considering the impact Rothstein had in his life, in the nearly four years that this nonsense had been going on, he'd only encountered him a small handful of time. And for it to come to an end like this… well, Grey found it almost a bit of a letdown. He'd expected there would be more sound and fury at the end, however that end shook out, but this just felt… sad… pathetic, even a letdown.

After pulling on new clothes and appreciating that they weren't the hospital gowns, he stretched one more time before snapping on his new bracelets. These were prototype bracelets to accommodate for his new radiation output, which had increased dramatically. He certainly felt a bit different. Not necessarily in a bad way, just that he felt a bit alien in his own body. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long to adjust. He'd been shown an in-depth chemical analysis of both the gas that had he'd been hit with, as well as the antidote. He didn't understand most of the science for it, having only finished grade eleven chemistry, but he didn't really need to understand how it did what it did, only that it caused his body to undergo another rapid mutation, almost exactly like what had happened during the Godzilla-forsaken Rio mission. Well, hopefully the data they had on the cure he'd been administered would be helpful in curing the others who were still in lockup due to what that lunatic kid had done to them.

After making sure that everything was on right and the bracelets were functioning properly, he made his way down a few doors to where Rothstein was being kept. Upon laying eyes on him, Grey paused for a moment. He hadn't been told properly what Rothstein's condition was like.

He looked like he'd lost quite a bit of weight in a short amount of time, had incredibly pale skin, his eyes looked dull and a bit sunken in. It looked like all the life had drained from him.

"Jeez, and I thought my hospital visit was the most draining…" He muttered in an undertone before stepping inside. Graham and Ford were both already there. Ford had healed up pretty well from the incident on Skull Island, with only a few burn scars lingering. He was still off active duty to finish treating the radiation still floating around in his system.

"Alright, is this everyone?" Grey asked. Graham nodded.

"Okay, then let's talk." He directed that last statement at Rothstein.

"Yes, I suppose we should." Rothstein replied, his voice sounding a bit gravelly and weak.

"So, what were those boxes you and that kid were chasing around?" Grey asked. Rothstein closed his eyes.

"They were specialized vaults, designed and built by the late Dr. Yorburg. I'm sure you're already familiar with him. The vaults contained practically every major invention, unbuilt design, chemical formula, anything he invented that he wanted to keep to himself. I found out about them by accident and started developing a method of unlocking them since they required his DNA pre-mutation. I collected a sample before I finished him off. Quite the number you did on him." Rothstein explained. Grey ignored the comment about what he did to Yorburg and pressed forward.

"Who else knew about the vaults? Obviously, you were racing someone to them." Grey inquired.

"His name is Augustus Yorburg. He's the son of Maximus Yorburg and nephew of the late Dr. Yorburg. After he murdered their father, Dr. Yorburg pinned the crime on his sister and put his brother's family in hiding. He frequently corresponded with Augustus and slowly molded the boy in his image. Likely, the doctor left knowledge of the vaults' locations to Augustus in his will, who then started hunting them down for his own purposes. Aside from simply reclaiming his uncle's research, I can't be sure of what he intends to do with it." Rothstein replied.

Grey took a few moments to process all of that. Hopefully, they'd be able to use that to somehow get Valerie out of that mental institution she'd been trapped all those decades in because of her lunatic brother. Of course, that would have to come after they'd finished stopping the latest walking apocalypse to appear.

"Alright, one more from me. We recently came across… evidence, shall we say, of a threat more powerful than Godzilla that will become a real problem in the very near future. Considering the timing of this vault nonsense and this Augustus having gotten his hands on all of them, last we checked, you think you have any ideas?" Grey pressed. Rothstein looked contemplative for a moment.

"Nothing springs to mind… I wasn't privy to every one of his projects, though he certainly was less subtle than he fancied himself. Whatever this threat is, I can't think…" Rothstein trailed off before his face scrunched up before looking turning to one of concern.

"Wait, I might have an inkling. During the time between your escape and the attack on San Francisco, Yorburg suddenly reactivated one of the facilities we used to create Mecha Godzilla and acquired a mutated DNA sample of Godzilla's DNA. Perhaps that has something to do with it?" Rothstein offered. Grey just rubbed his temples.

"Not much to go on, but I can hazard a few guesses. Alright, that's all from me. I gotta go make sure I'm not going to pull anything when the next giant monster appears." Grey announced before standing up and walking out of the room. He certainly had a lot to think about. Specifically about Augustus. He had been shouting about revenge when they had first caught him. Well, now they knew that the revenge he'd been screeching about was revenge for his uncle. Grey couldn't help but wonder if Augustus knew how his uncle had died. He'd have to have swum past his uncle's corpse when he went to retrieve the vault in the E.V.O facility they'd turned into an artificial reef. There was something a bit uncomfortable about that thought.

Whatever the case, Grey's instincts were telling him that Augustus' revenge was somehow tied to this threat that the Shobijin had come to tell him about. The timing was just too convenient. Well, whatever it was, they just had to hope that Godzilla and Mothra were enough to handle it. In the meantime, he had muscles to loosen up after all the stress and sedentary time they'd gone through. If he was going to be staring down the barrel of another apocalypse, he wanted to be in as top form as he could reasonably be.

* * *

Augustus hummed cheerfully to himself as he made the final adjustments to the formula. He could feel it this time. He'd found exactly the right combination of chemicals that would stabilize the mutagen for an ordinary human. As he completed the model for it, he uploaded it into the simulator and started running the process. It would take approximately twenty minutes to finish this time, so he made his way back to the viewing station for Omega, to gaze upon the creature once more. Considering this could conceivably the last time he ever saw the creature, he wanted to take one final moment to appreciate Omega's grandeur. The project file sadly contained no information on what Omega was capable of, thus meaning that when he went through the procedure, he had no idea what sort of powers he'd possess. Oh well. It would be fun to experiment.

He took some more time to stare at Omega before returning to check on the simulator. Much to his expectation, the simulation had come up successful. Now all he had to do was prepare it. It took him some time to gather all of the chemical compounds he needed for the mutagen, but he eventually had everything he needed. All that was left was a sampling of Omega's DNA. After extracting a large vial of Omega's blood, he added it to the last slot of the synthesizer and input the chemical map for the mutagen and pressed start. This process would take much longer, probably an hour or two. Just enough time for one last meal.

Making his way to the automated galley, he input commands for his ideal steak dinner. It took about half an hour to make, so he waited as patiently as he could, reminiscing on what had led him here and where he was going to go afterwards. Assuming he survived the upcoming cataclysm. Even with the power he was going to soon be in possession of, there was no guarantee. It was exciting in a way.

After his meal was ready, he ate silently in the abandoned facility. He savored every bite, knowing it could easily be his last. After he cleared his plate, he stood up and made his way back through the facility to his workstation to check the synthesizer. Sure enough, the formula was finished. It was the color of dead blood, with small flecks of purple floating in it. It seemed to have a bit of a glow to it. He walked with purpose into the observation room for Omega and made his way to a large control panel. After inputting several passwords and offering a DNA sample for confirmation. After the rigorous sign-in process had been completed, Augustus perused the options until he found the activation command. Apparently, Omega's most natural state was like Godzilla's; asleep. Thus, he required a certain stimulus to awaken. For Godzilla, he needed to detect that there was something to fight. Omega's trigger was similar, and it only required the right electrical impulse administered to the brain.

Augustus clutched the vial of mutagen in his hand tightly and raised it up before plunging it into his heart! The serum rushed through him and his eyes widened in pain as he began screaming in agony, collapsing to the floor! His body contorted unnaturally as he writhed on the floor in suffering. Slowly though, his screams devolved into laughter that grew increasingly more manic as a twitching hand lifted up, fingers clawed but not quite scaled, and slammed down on the activation button! Immediately, Omega's eyes snapped open and he grunted inside the silo before thrashing about, causing the glass to crack and the liquid contained within to start spraying out into the viewing area! Omega started to rise and smashed his way out of the top of the Silo, allowing seawater to come flooding in!

Rising from the ocean, Godzilla Omega let out a guttural bellow and floated up into the air before the crystals on his back began to glow and energy began to snap between them! Omega's eyes turned jet-black before it threw back its head and unleashed a black beam, framed by orange into the air! The blast was so powerful, it instantly cleared every cloud from the sky, allowing the moon to shine down upon it.

Omega turned its gaze to the nearest land mass and narrowed its eyes before floating forward until it reached the nearest city and set down in the middle of it.

Godzilla Omega's rampage had begun.

* * *

 **And now we approach the end. I'm feeling SO HYPED!**

 **Creativity: The end is near! THE END IS NEAR!**

 **Author: Yes, it is! And it will be glorious…**

 **Creativity: So, anything to say to the nice people before we conclude?**

 **Author: Honestly, I don't really have much to say at the moment. I'll present my final thoughts on this story as a whole in a separate chapter after the finale, in which I'll also announce the winner of our poll.**

 **So, it's February 21** **st** **as I write, this , so it's pretty obvious that this chapter did NOT take nearly as long to write as the others. Which is a very good thing. Now I got a month and a half to finish the last two, which it honestly won't take that long. Or, it shouldn't at least.**

 **Barring unforeseen circumstances, it won't. Especially now that I've gotten into a groove with it.**

 **Alright, I think that covers everything! See ya next week!**


	57. Discord Announcement

**Good afternoon, everyone! So, I've gotten quite a bit of feedback through reviews and private messages that a Discord server is a really good idea.**

…

 **So that's what we're doing! The current address is /cVpZbbb. I hope to see you there!**

 **Creativity: ooh, maybe I should set up an account! Then you can all praise me for all the hard work you do.**

 **Author: Careful. You don't want your head to hit the doorframe on your way out.**

 **Anyway, hope to see you in chat!**


	58. Endgame

**Alright, here we are at part one of the end. Wow, it's been a journey. Not sure how many you know thus, but this story was one that I did a long time ago. In fact, it was one of the first ones I wrote.**

 **After I vanished from the site for a while, I came back with a revived New Dawn (Original version of Venom: Resurgence). As I was working on that, I started reworking the original version of A Very Bad Idea into the version it exists as today. Now, here we are, approaching two years later, and this story is easily the longest story I've written.**

 **Creativity: It's something to think about, definitely.**

 **Author: We'll have our retrospective soon. Believe me, now that we're in the endgame, I've had more than a few thoughts about this story and the journey of writing it. But again, I'll have a whole retrospective chapter published when the story is wrapped up. Along with that aforementioned retrospective, we'll be announcing the winner of the poll!**

 **Now then, let us proudly present chapter 15 of A Very Bad Idea (s3)!**

* * *

 **Post Completion edit: So, I decided that I was too impatient to wait another week, so I'm uploading both of the final chapters and the retrospective right now, and will be publish a teaser for the next story when the final chapter would have aired, along with the results of the poll. We now return to our regularly schedule chapter.**

* * *

"Oh, that is really not good…" Grey muttered. His sentiment was shared by the rest of the people watching the broadcast from Australia. Within the room, that was Sabrina, Graham, Ford, Click, Simon, Barry and Darcie. Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen, watching as the giant Godzilla lookalike rampaged through Sydney. Despite the carnage displayed on screen, no one could look away. No matter how much they really, _really_ wanted to.

"Well, I guess now we know what Mothra was talking about. Grey muttered as he marched out of the viewing room and started heading down to the lockers to suit up.

"And just what the hell do you think you can do against that thing?" Sabrina asked him. Grey kept walking.

"Probably nothing, but I'm still going. If nothing else, then to help evacuate people. Don't tell me you aren't going either." Grey called over his shoulder. Sabrina cursed before running down the hall after him.

"You're barely recovered from undergoing one rapid mutation and then a rapid regression. You are not at one hundred percent and you know that." Sabrina stated. Grey kept walking.

"Yup. Still going. Is anyone going to try and stop me? Because I'm perfectly willing to go through them." Grey countered.

"I don't recall you beating me post my recovery from that cocktail they pumped us full of back in San Francisco." Sabrina growled at him.

"I have the whole of Australia as an excellent motivator to break that streak. You have just me to motivate you. And even if you beat me, back up or no, you'll be too thrashed to be of any good in Australia. Now, are we going or not?" He said firmly. Sabrina grit her teeth, but ultimately relented.

"Only you would be crazy enough to do this after the madness you just went through." She grumbled as she drew along side him as they made their way to the lockers.

"I think its baked into both our DNA. Besides, after the last three, almost four years, how could I not be crazy?" He jabbed. He could hear footsteps behind him, indicating that it wasn't just him and Sabrina that decided to get dressed up in their heavy armor and radioactive weaponry to go face certain doom in the form of Godzilla's evil twin. He figured there would be others, but it still brought a resolved frown to his face. It would be an act of the divine if they all made it through this alive, permanent injuries be damned.

All of a sudden, Grey suddenly felt like he had a head-rush! He stumbled a bit and leaned on the wall for support while holding his head. After a few moments, he realized that despite how unbalanced he was, he sort of recognized the sensation. It felt similar to that strange pull that he felt when Godzilla was on his way to the latest walking disaster that thought it could out-do Godzilla in mass destruction, only the feeling was feeling amplified several-fold, and felt almost a bit… off. Not so off that it felt like another creature, like the whole Biollante incident, but off all the same. His first thought was that it was this new Godzilla lookalike, but he was reasonably sure that it would be generating a different enough signal for him to differentiate the two.

"Are you really sure you can do this?" Sabrina asked him pointedly. Grey nodded.

"Yeah. I think that was just the signal that Godzilla is on the move." Grey responded before picking himself up. It didn't take too long for him to adapt to the sensation. It was uncomfortable, but he could tune it out, at least enough for it not to interfere in a fight. Hell, a fight would probably help him tune it out completely.

Soon, they got down to the lockers and Grey set about pulling on his suit and gauntlets. Thankfully, Graham had kept the radio-wave blocking feature in the headset from the Biollante incident, which would definitely help with making sure that Grey wasn't overcome with vertigo again at an inopportune moment. After doing one final check on his gauntlets and other gear, Grey made his way up to the helipad, where the prototype emergency response aircraft that they'd used for the Africa mission was waiting for them. After climbing aboard and strapping in, the aircraft took off and accelerated towards Australia.

* * *

 _Meanwhile, in Australia…_

Augustus snarled as he clawed his way out of the ocean. His body had been wracked with pain for what felt like an eternity, but it eventually faded. Or, he eventually became to numb to feel it. Honestly, it didn't really matter. What mattered was that he was out of the ocean. He eventually stumbled into a nearby city, Sydney, probably. It was the closest city to where Godzilla Omega had been kept.

As he stumbled through the streets, which lay ruined in Omega's wake, he eventually found an unbroken window and saw his reflection. Several large pink/purple crystals were jutting out of his skin. The skin around those crystals was a black/purple and scaly, with darkened blood dripping from them. Most of the crystals were concentrated on his back, but there was a decent concentration of them on his right forearm.

He looked at the crystals now marring his body with twisted fascination. He reached to his arm and touched one of the crystals jutting out of his arm. To his surprise, the he could _feel_ his hand through the crystal just as well as the rest of his arm would detect such contact. The crystal was a part of him… _alive_ somehow. He had to wonder, could they be manipulated like any of his limbs?

Before he could test such a theory, he was interrupted.

"Hey! What are you doing?! We need to get away from the city!" He heard someone shout at him. He could see a few citizens fleeing the city. Well, at least he wouldn't have to go looking for practice dummies.

He leapt towards them, covering the distance with just a few bounds before swinging his right arm around and ripping open the throat of the one who had shouted at him in a shower of blood! The others shrieked and started to run away, prompting him to give chase! The next one he caught, he crushed their skull under his heel before stalking after the next. However, they had apparently been running towards a small group of police officers, which noticed him on his rampage and opened fire. The first two bullets hit him in the leg and side, prompting him to shout in pain and lift his arm up in defence. Much to his surprise, the crystals on his arm grew into a crude shield, blocking the bullets! He could still feel the impact of the bullets through the crystal, but it didn't hurt. At least, not until one of the bullets struck just near the edge of the shield and chipped a shard of crystal off, prompting him to grunt in pain. It was hard to describe the pain. It felt like he'd hurt himself with something sharp, but the sensation afterwards felt more like a bruise. But then he noticed something.

The crystal that had been cut away from him… he could still feel it. There was a disconnect to be sure, but he could still feel it. Control it…

He stretched his arm out in front of him and almost on instinct, commanded the crystal to act on his behalf. Immediately, it rapidly grew and rooted itself in the ground! Then, crystals began to erupt from the ground, heading straight towards the police and his other soon-to-be victims! Soon, they were entrapped and impaled by the crystals! However, none of the puncture wounds were lethal. He wanted to reserve that for something more… intimate.

He stalked forward, the crystal shield shrinking and turning into a thin blade, emerging from between his middle knuckles. He then took his time killing his prey, one by one, cutting throats, eyes, and piercing brains before putting his last victim out of their misery. He looked at the blade for a contemplative moment before licking the blood from the blade.

It didn't taste very good, but the rush from it was almost addictive.

He looked towards the big city with a sick grin on his face. It was time for some hunting.

The crystals on his back retreated somewhat, per his commands, and he sprang into the air, eager for his next kill.

* * *

Upon returning to normal speed, and feeling his innards rebalance themselves, the Monarch team beheld the damage that had befallen Sydney. They could see the Godzilla facsimile currently lumbering through the middle of Sydney, having devastated the coast and carved a pathway through the opera house, heading straight for the heart of the city!

"Okay, any news on Mothra or Godzilla approaching?! This is their party after all!" Grey shouted over the din of the new Godzilla roaring.

" _We have satellite confirmation that Mothra is flying here as we speak, and Godzilla is also on his way by sea. Mothra will probably arrive first, considering her awareness of the situation, if not the specific location. Plus, flight is probably swifter than swimming. The largest concentration of evacuation is a few miles in, close to the coast. I'll try setting you down there."_ Ion responded as they brought the transport in for a landing. Soon, they were low enough to leap out. As soon as they did, Ion began pulling away. At least, they thought it was Ion.

" _Alright, auto-pilot has taken over. Now then, head to your right. There's some collapsed buildings that have people trapped."_ Ion instructed.

"I thought you were the autopilot!" Barry shouted.

" _Of course not! I'm too versatile to be wasted on just an autopilot! Now, are you going to help the people buried under the rubble or not?"_ Ion responded, seemingly incensed by Barry's belief.

Grey immediately rushed over to the aforementioned collapsed building and waited for Ion to scan the thing, allowing him to quickly pick out where the people were, and what rubble he had to move and how to move it. It took comparatively little effort than what he thought it would, with the rubble being rather easy to move. After prying the people free, he handed them off to Click, Barry and Darcie, who all began carrying them to the nearest evacuation point. With Ion coordinating them, the team managed to extract some thirty people from the buildings before they heard the roaring wind and peculiar screech that heralded the arrival of Mothra, who descended from the clouds and immediately unleashed a beam from her antennae, striking fake Godzilla in the face! The monster didn't seem that phased. In fact, it looked more annoyed than anything. The crystals on its shoulders began to glow brightly before two bursts of orange energy, remarkably similar to lightning bolts erupted from said crystals, nearly striking Mothra, who ascended out of harms way! Mothra began furiously flapping her wings, creating a gale in an effort to force the evil Kaiju off balance, but the monster simply hunkered down and slammed its tail against the ground, roaring in defiance!

Grey would have continued watching, but he saw people fleeing towards them. He was about to go help them. But suddenly, two of them tripped and fell forward, revealing three large crystals embedded in their backs! Two of them were already dead, but the third tried to rise, only for a multitude of crystals to erupt from their body in a spray of blood! Grey and the others watched with horrified expressions as the cause of these gruesome deaths stalked forward. The moment Grey saw the face of the murderer, as well as the crystals jutting out of his body, he snarled viciously. It was the same person who had been racing against Rothstein for those damned vaults, and he had used Godzilla's evil twin to become a cross-species. Augustus grinned sickly at them, revealing his teeth were sharpened and stained with blood.

"You know, I wasn't actually expecting you to show up so soon, let alone find you before Omega turned Australia into a smoking crater, but I'm not one to complain. Now I can take revenge in a more personal matter." Augustus called out to them. His throat sounded a bit scratchy. The crystals jutting out of his body began to glow as he grinned. Grey's skin and eyes began to turn reptilian and his blood vessels took on a slight glow. A very low hum seemed to emanate from his body.

"He's mine…" Grey growled as he began walking forward. Sabrina grabbed his arm.

"Oh hell no, you are not going to fight him one on one after the lunatic shit you haven't even fully recovered from yet." She snarled at him. Begrudgingly, Grey backed down. Sabrina's gauntlets charged up and she raised her fists in front of her. Grey clenched his clawed hands before settling into a crouch, fists unclenched and ready to rip and tear. His blood vessels began to glow slightly brighter as his muscles tensed, ready to spring forward at a moment's notice.

Augustus seemed amused by them, as well as excited. He lifted his right arm up and grabbed one of the crystals jutting out of it. He grinned at them sickly before ripping it out of his arm! There was a brief spurt of blood before the crystal regrew, much to their shock. Augustus looked his arm over and gave it a few experimental motions, mostly just to show off to his opponents. Then he crushed the crystal and tossed the fragments in front of him. His grin grew before he let out a scratchy yell and threw his right hand outward in a shoving motion. Immediately, the crystal shards he'd thrown in front of him burst to life, erupting into jagged spikes that surged forward to skewer them!

Grey and Sabrina leapt out of the way, just as two supersized spikes erupted where they had just been standing and unleashed twin blasts from their gauntlets! Augustus smirked as he swung both his arms up, causing a wall of crystal to erupt from the ground and shield him from the blasts! Grey roared angrily and broke into a sprint towards Augustus, his body glowing brighter and brighter as he approached. Sabrina also began making a run towards Augustus, her gauntlets approaching maximum charge.

Grey slammed shoulder-first into the crystal, breaking through it with ease, only to find Augustus' crystal encased fist waiting for his approaching face! The impact resounded through the battleground and sent Grey flying back, his face sporting a new bruise, as well as a cut from the sharp facets of the crystal.

Luckily, this proved enough of a distraction for Sabrina to unleash both her gauntlets at point-blank range, right in his torso! The blasts sent Augustus hurtling backward and into a building, which promptly collapsed on him! Sabrina then turned to look at Grey, who was currently picking himself up from the concrete before unconsciously touching a hand to the massive bruise on his cheek, wincing a bit at the sting. He shook his head and turned his head to the building that had just collapsed on Augustus. The pile of rubble began shaking before a mass of crystal erupted from it, Augustus riding on top of it! What few scraps of his shirt had been torn off, revealing a large collection of crystals on his chest, which had grown to form a sort of armor.

"Why can't these things ever be simple?" Grey muttered before he began advancing. Sabrina gritted her teeth and charged her gauntlets again before stalking forward. Augustus revealed his sick grin again before leaping into the air! His forearms and hands become completely encased in crystals, turning them into massive battering rams! He slammed his fist into the ground, causing crystals to erupt from the ground in both their directions! Grey sprinted forward, pivoting and spinning out of the way of the crystals before leaping into the air and rearing back a fist for a massive haymaker! The blow connected with Augustus' face, throwing him to the ground! As he stumbled to his feet, Sabrina delivered a right hook straight into his gut, unleashing the blast she had charged in her gauntlet, breaking through his crystal armor and leaving a blackened burn plastered across his torso! Augustus' eyes widened in surprise and agony as he was thrown back by the blow. Grey bound after him and sank his claws into Augustus' shoulders before throwing him back at Sabrina, who then proceeded to clothesline him! She then followed this up by unleashing twin point-blank blasts that sent him flying through the crumbling remains of a brick wall!

Grey made his way back to Sabrina's side, panting from the exertion.

"Please tell me he's at least gonna be fighting a lot worse now?" He half-begged. Unfortunately, they saw Augustus just using the crystals on his back to push himself back to his feet, his injuries visibly healing. Now, that smug, sadistic smile was gone, replaced with one of rage and viciousness.

"It can't ever be easy or simple, can it?" Sabrina muttered as she clenched her fists for round two. Grey snarled as his body began to glow a brighter blue. Augustus responded by causing the crystals on his body to grow a bit more, recreating his armor as well as causing the crystals to glow.

"I'm going to rip off your limbs and suck the blood from them as you watch." He hissed before bearing his teeth at them. Grey snorted vapor at the threat before he began stalking forward, his claws spread in preparation to rip and tear.

* * *

Graham watched as the carnage continued to unfold. Mothra was still on the defensive, being only able to dodge attacks and occasionally fire of a laser attack, which didn't seem to do much more than superficial damage. Mothra also tried webbing, but that didn't work out either, sadly. Graham gasped as she saw several of the massive crystals that had sprung up around Godzilla's dark counterpart began to glow before lifting into the air! Suddenly, the began to fly at Mothra, pursuing her through the air! Mothra desperately tried to evade them, but it was obvious that she couldn't keep it up forever.

Then a miracle happened.

A blue ray struck Godzilla's evil twin in the back of the head, causing it to stumble forward. The crystals stopped glowing and crashed to the ground, leaving Mothra to land on a nearby building and rest before shrieking a challenge. However, the challenge was swiftly drowned out by the familiar, overpowering bellow of the King of Monsters. Godzilla towered at his full height, spines bursting with electric blue light as he glowered at his doppelganger. His tail swiped through the ocean before slapping down. His rival let out a challenge of its own before the two titans charged each other! The was a thunderous crash as they collided! Godzilla immediately dug his claws into his opponent and shoved, trying to throw his enemy off balance.

While his foe held a size advantage, it was remarkably uncoordinated and stumbled backwards, allowing Godzilla to easily gain ground before shoving his rival away from him and following up with his claws! He raked them across his dark reflection, gouging deep, bloody valleys in its flesh. The evil creature recoiled in pain before roaring at Godzilla, the crystals on its body beginning to glow brightly. Godzilla suddenly roared in surprise as crystals erupted from the ground, encasing his feet and trapping his tail! His foe snarled as the crystals began to glow brighter, as well as the horn on its head. It opened its maw wide unleashed a black/orange beam from its jaws! Godzilla took the blast full force, unable to dodge or even turn to block the attack! Roaring in pain and anger, Godzilla's spines began to glow their signature blue before he bent over. The energy began to snap between the spines before Godzilla let out a guttural bellow! A massive pulse of blue energy erupted from his body in a shockwave that knocked over several buildings and leveled the ground, carrying debris with it! Apparently, the shockwave had erupted from his whole body, as it caused the crystals entrapping him to shatter. Godzilla roared as his spines began glowing again before he unleashed his Atomic Breath upon his foe, causing it to backpedal! Suddenly, a large crystal floated up in front of it and suddenly grew into a massive shield that seemed to be not reflecting the breath attack, but absorbing it!

The shield then changed to look more like a snowflake before evil Godzilla began charging his own breath attack and firing it straight into the center of the crystal. There was a pause as the crystal glowed brighter before a massive beam erupted from it, striking Godzilla so hard that it threw him onto his back!

Mothra was quick to swoop in and draw the enemy's attention, making lots of noise and blasting the Godzilla lookalike. It roared in frustration as it began launching crystals and breath attacks, trying to down the gargantuan butterfly.

Godzilla rose to his full height, a blackened mark on his chest. If he wasn't furious before, he certainly was now. Godzilla let out another challenging roar as the spines along his back began to glow blue. However, the glow kept getting brighter and the low hum built to a high-pitched whine. Suddenly, the sound dropped to a much louder rumble, akin to thunder. The blue transitioned to red, with yellow energy snapping off and arcing between the spines. Godzilla's eyes began to glow red before opening his jaws wide, a red glow escaping from his throat. Suddenly, a colossal red laser erupted from his maw, slamming into his evil twin! There was a titanic explosion, followed by a horrendous shriek as the dark Godzilla collapsed to the ground!

Graham was dumbfounded. They'd never seen this kind of power from Godzilla before! Just what other abilities did he have yet to show?

This was interrupted when Ion suddenly appeared on the screen.

" _Doctor, I'm sorry to interrupt, but it seems that there's a strange cloud heading towards Australia. Against the wind, I might add."_ Ion announced. Graham immediately brought up the screen that showed satellite and saw what Ion was talking about.

"What kind of cloud… Check Biollante's island!" She exclaimed. Ion immediately moved the satellite view to the aforementioned island, revealing that Biollante was missing. Graham went pale.

"Please, for the love of all that lives on our planet, please let Biollante be going there to fight alongside Godzilla…" Graham begged under her breath.

* * *

Grey had quickly decided that of all the insane shit he'd dealt with since his mutation, this was by far the worst of the pile. Augustus was clad head to toe in crystalline armor, which he could also cause spikes to grow from, making him incredibly difficult to get a solid hit in on, without getting damaged in the process.

The two of them had been brawling until Omega collapsed from Godzilla's red breath attack. The shockwave had caused the two of them to become buried in rubble. Grey had just finished clawing his way out of the rubble. His radiation suit was completely and utterly mangled, but his gauntlets were still in good shape, if a little bit scuffed.

He grabbed the remaining scraps of cloth that still clung to his torso and tore them off before a massive crystal fist punched its way out of the rubble, followed immediately by Augustus. The crystal armor was cracked and missing in large chunks. But other than that, he was mostly undamaged.

As the two of them glared at each other, Grey could feel himself becoming angrier by the second. He was done with it. The giant monsters, the destruction, everything he'd dealt with at Monarch, all of it. He'd had enough.

He let out an enraged bellow, which Augustus mirrored. Grey's body began glowing the brightest it ever had as he broke into a sprint. Augustus charged him as well and the two of them reared back their fists, ready to tear the other limb from limb.

* * *

 **And that's where we're ending it for today! Next week, we wrap things up!**

 **Creativity: Shall we begin boarding the hype train?**

 **Author: Eh, not sure there IS a hype train for this story. But, if it makes you feel any better, go ahead.**

 **Anyway, yeah, despite how eager I am to wrap this up, it's kinda strange to think that this is where it ends. At least for now. Much like Garter (cuz that's my Venom Story's protagonist's name now. Wow, that's a mouthful) You won't have seen the last of him quite yet.**

 **Also, look forward to the story retrospective after the finale.**

 **At the moment, Kingdom Hearts: Beyond Time is the leader on the poll. We'll be closing it after the Retrospective, so get your votes in while you can!**

 **Alright, I think that's enough for now. See ya in the next chapter!**


	59. To the Death

**Hello everyone! So, here we are at the end.**

 **This story was WAY longer than I EVER thought it was going to be. This story has made it to 59 chapters, not including the retrospective. Even at the end, I can't quite believe we made it this far. There's also a part of me that feels we maybe SHOULDN'T have made it this far, but I'll save that for the retrospective.**

 **Creativity: Don't forget the poll! We'll be closing it up soon, so get your last-minute votes in now!**

 **Author: Thank you, Creativity.**

 **Honestly, what a journey this has been. Almost 60 chapters, well over 200k words, nearly two years of work. While I've kind of moved on from Godzilla, I still felt passion for the world I was able to make from it and still do. However, I think that it's high time that the curtain was drawn for this story, and to make way for the next. But once again, fear not. You haven't seen the last of this world. It'll just be a while.**

 **Creativity: *sniff* It's actually happening…**

 **Author: Save the emotions for the after party, C. Now it's time to finish it off.**

 **So, when we last left off, Much of Sydney lays in burning, irradiated rubble, Biollante was approaching the battlefield, and Grey and Augustus were about to begin their battle proper, which will surely have readers on the edge of their seats!**

 **Now, for the final time, we proudly present chapter 16 (s3) of A Very Bad Idea!**

* * *

Grey roared as he pinned Augustus' arm and began to repeatedly punch him in the ribs! Augustus yelled in pain before crystals erupted from his arm, causing Grey to pause long enough for Augustus to free himself and kick Grey away from him! He tore a piece of crystal from his arm and it began to grow until it had taken the form of a sword.

Grey's eyes widened as Augustus gripped the crystal sword with both hands and swung it down at him! He dodged out of the way of two strikes before delivering a two-hit combo straight to Augustus' chest! He immediately followed this up by grabbing Augustus' shoulders, yanking him forward and headbutting him in the nose! Augustus shrieked as he was thrown back! He lifted a hand up to his nose, which was gushing a blood so dark it was practically black. There was a painful snapping noise as Augustus' nose snapped itself back into place. He snarled at Grey before letting out a roar and leaping into the air, unleashing a storm of crystal shards straight at Grey! Grey managed to dodge around most of them, but still winced as his skin was lacerated by a few of the crystals. Even his armor scales weren't enough to stop the crystals.

Eventually the crystals stopped, and he whirled around, leaping towards Augustus, grabbing him by the shoulders and swinging around Augustus, digging his heels and throwing Augustus like a discus into a nearby building! Grey snarled as he jumped after his enemy, gauntlets charged to max level. As he broke through the dust cloud, he saw Augustus stumbling to his feet. Grey swung his fist forward and fired as his fist connected with Augustus' chest! The blast went off like a small nuclear explosion, launching Grey back out of the building and leaving Augustus in the middle of a crater!

Augustus picked himself back up again, feeling his chest. There was a massive burn mark plastered across his chest and enough flesh had been burned away to reveal bone! He yelled out in pain as he regenerated before encasing himself in crystal armor and causing the armor on his forearms and fists to grow until he had two massive clubs for arms. He leapt into the air and slammed both his fists down at Grey, who managed to get out of the way of the hammer strike, only for the shockwave to send him hurtling back! As he staggered to his feet, he found his chin being introduced to Augustus' crystal fist, which sent him hurtling into the air, completely disoriented.

As he crashed back down, he realized that Augustus was already bounding after him and rolled to the side to avoid being crushed. As soon as Augustus had hit the ground, Grey grabbed the back of Augustus' head and slammed it into the ground before driving his knee into Augustus' stomach. He then proceeded to dig his claws into the armor on Augustus' back and tear it off, then proceeding to do the same to his chest! He then let out an enraged bellow before delivering a massive punch to Augustus' gut, sending Augustus sending hurtling out of the crater! Grey then charged both of his gauntlets and unleashed twin blasts that pinned Augustus to the wall! Grey roared as he sustained the blasts, keeping him pinned!

Augustus yelled in pain and frustration as the wall cracked behind him. How could he be trapped like this? Why had he not crushed this worm already?! Omega was obviously superior to the original Godzilla, as evidenced by the fact that both Godzilla and the overgrown butterfly hadn't managed to cause it anything other than superficial damage! And yet this cretin had wounded and overpowered him over and over again! He'd witnessed his battle prowess before and it hadn't been nearly enough to keep up with Augustus now! Unless he had been holding back by a wide margin from before their last encounter in Africa, this insect couldn't have grown this strong while incapacitated by the effects of both the mutagen and the antidote!

Augustus' frustration and rage continued to build. The crystals all over his body began to grow and glow. Energy began to snap between them like lighting before he threw back his head and let out a roar of pure hatred, energy erupting from his body in an explosion!

Grey's eyes widened as he was thrown back by the explosion. As he scrambled to his feet, he let out a frustrated snarl before planting his feet in preparation to charge again. Augustus stormed out of the dust cloud that had formed due to the explosion, the crystals on his body still crackling with energy. He lifted his arms up and roared! Suddenly, the air was filled with the crackling noise. Several crystal chunks that were lying on the ground began to crackle with energy as they levitated into the air. Augustus' eyes widened as he glared at Grey with the eyes of a killer before throwing his hands forward! All of the crystals that were floating suddenly rocketed towards Grey! Grey's eyes widened, and he leapt back out of harms way! At least, he tried to. While he managed to avoid most of the crystals, two small, thin shards struck him in his side and through his right arm. They cut clean through and embedded themselves on the wall behind him.

Grey yelled in pain as he grasped his side with his wounded arm. Augustus' face morphed into an unhinged smile as he deftly reached down to his ribs and yanked one of the crystals out of his side, never once flinching. The crystal shard began to grow and change, taking on the appearance of a knife. Grey concentrated an atomic flame from his gauntlet and jabbed it into his side, yelling in pain as the makeshift torch cauterized the wound. After doing the same to his arm, he swung his wounded arm to the side, flicking off droplets of steaming blood.

Augustus watched the whole time as he approached at a leisurely pace, toying with his makeshift knife. Grey bared his teeth in a feral snarl and charged forward. Augustus did the same, knife raised to strike. Grey's fist slammed into Augustus' chest and Augustus' knife cut a glowing valley in Grey's shoulder as the two clashed once again.

* * *

 _A long way off, in the primary E.V.O. facility…_

The E.V.O Council of Directors sat in a massive conference room, watching as the titanic battle raged across Sydney, heading further and further inland.

"Further status report on the conditions of the battle?" One of the Directors requested. Immediately, a satellite image appeared, displaying the current 'blast radius' of the battle, what damage had already been done, as well as an active tracker of Biollante's current position and ETA.

"I believe that the image upon the monitor is more than enough to illustrate what the council has assembled for. We must decide whether or not we take action against this faux Godzilla and if so, what action to take." The same Director declared as he leaned forward. If one looked close enough, they could see a few small beads of sweat dotting his forehead. Not that anyone would be judgemental, if they even noticed. Everyone had a knot of stress and dread in their chests.

And so the debate began. It didn't take long for a majority vote to pass in favor of taking action. However, the action to take was hotly contested. A very small few believed that marching their armies in would work, that was repeatedly dismissed due to the fact that it was immediately obvious that the armies would be completely ineffective and would only get trampled underfoot. Some believed that their sea and air-based fleets would be a good idea, but it was still doubtful that any of their weapons would be of any use against the new monster. The debate kept going back and forth for a truly astonishing amount of time before one of the Directors finally decided to bite the bullet. There was one thing that hadn't been suggested yet. The Director knew why no one had bothered to suggest it yet, but that was for a very good reason.

"Everyone, I believe there is one solution that has been deliberately avoided." The aforementioned Director announced. A chilled silence fell over the room.

"I would offer the suggestion of the Particle Acceleration Cannon." The Director continued. Immediately, arguing broke out over the suggestion.

"You are suggesting that we use our untested nuclear option? If anything goes wrong, the very planet we stand on could be turned into a molten debris field in outer space! Of course, that all assumes we don't have a singularity form or that it simply doesn't fire! There is too much that could possibly go wrong for the PAC to be a viable option!" One of the other Directors argued. Immediately, another rose to the challenge.

"Should we not use it, and should Godzilla and the other monsters fail to stop this new threat, make no mistake, it WILL destroy all life on this planet. I have no doubt in saying that not even E.V.O will be safe from this event! Under those conditions, we have nothing to lose by activating the cannon! As illustrated by the live footage and our own analyses, this new Godzilla has yet to sustain any meaningful damage, while Godzilla obviously has taken more than superficial injuries! The moth creature has barely avoided injury and I have no doubt it will take only one shot to ground it! I move to activate the PAC." The Director declared.

Arguments continued to be had before someone finally put down their foot down.

"Alright, that's enough. All against activating the Particle Acceleration Cannon for use against this false Godzilla?" The first Director requested, though his tone was one of urgency, reminding them that they didn't have the luxury to debate and had wasted enough time as it was.

A number of hands raised, but not the majority.

"And all in favor?" The Director asked again. The rest of the hands ascended.

"Motion carried. We activate the Particle Acceleration Cannon to be used against Godzilla's foe." The Director concluded. As everyone rose and promptly left, the Director who had originally suggested the cannon remained behind, staring at the screen that displayed the wanton destruction being spread across Australia. Biollante was just reforming from a yellow cloud and let out a challenging screech.

"May god have mercy on our souls…" The Director murmured as the four titans prepared to charge each other.

* * *

Grey watched in awe as Biollante roared and began to lumber slowly towards Omega, as Augustus had referred to Godzilla's evil twin. The sound of Augustus roared in anger, Grey's attention was drawn back to his own fight. Augustus was now using a massive crystal spear to try and turn Grey into a kebab, though he hadn't had any success yet. Unfortunately, no matter how many times Grey broke the spear, Augustus would simply regrow it, making it ultimately only a tactic for buying precious seconds. The fight was slowly being pushed back towards the much bigger and much, much more destructive fight currently being waged by Omega, Godzilla, Mothra and Biollante. Grey would prefer to not be heading that way, but he was aware that he was running low on Gamma radiation and him sustaining his power-up wasn't helping matters. With both Biollante and Godzilla present, they put out enough residual Gamma energy to offset the amount he was burning through and then some.

After Augustus tried another clumsy stab, Grey grabbed the spear and yanking it forward, catching Augustus off-guard long enough to punch him right in the nose before grabbing him and throwing him back! Grey then turned and began sprinting headlong towards the battle, while keeping his ears pricked for when Augustus came chasing after him. As he looked ahead, he could see Biollante currently trying to restrain Omega while spraying its atomic sap all over Omega. Grey couldn't tell if it was doing any real damage, but based on the panicked, agonizing screeching that Omega was making, it hurt like hell.

Godzilla took this opportunity to charge up another red blast and nail Omega right in the face with it! This time, there was real damage, as small patches of bone were visible amongst the burnt flesh! Unfortunately, the wound was already healing, and Omega roared, causing several crystalline spires to erupt from the ground and cleave through the vines that Biollante was wrapping around Omega! Biollante shrieked and retreated back a ways, with Mothra swooping in and hitting Omega with a laser blast to keep its attention off Biollante!

Then Grey heard a bellowing shriek and he turned to the sky to see Augustus plummeting towards him, spear poised to strike! Grey cursed as he threw himself out of harms way, only to slam into a large crystal that barred his escape! Augustus made a grabbing gesture and pulled towards him, causing spikes to erupt from the crystal, missing Grey by inches! He turned and ran back towards Augustus, slamming into him shoulder first! Augustus gasped as the wind was knocked out of him before slamming into a concrete wall! Grey kept charging, fist cocked back for the follow-up! As he threw the fist forward, he suddenly paused. His body had frozen in place and he felt a dull pain coming from his side. His eyes tilted down to his side, seeing Augustus' fist just about touching his side, a crystal shard sticking out of his knuckles. Glowing, steaming blood dripped down the crystal from the wound. Augustus tilted his head with that sickening grin as he slowly pushed himself up and slowly pushed the crystal spike further into the wound. Grey's face contorted with pain as Augustus pinned him against the wall and reared back his fist. Crystal encased it before he threw a punch at Grey's face! Grey's vision blurred, and he felt blood dripping from his nose. He felt the crystal arm strike him again. And again.

Then, almost as subtly as it had slipped away, his rage began to build to crescendo. He felt a burning sensation in the pit of his stomach, rising to his chest and into his throat. Grey's eyes snapped open, burning a brilliant blue before he let out a silent howl as nuclear flame erupted from his mouth, right into Augustus' face! Augustus was sent reeling back, clutching his face while screaming!

Grey looked down at the stab wound. It was healing already, but he needed to stop the bleeding. After cauterizing it with his bare hand, Grey saw Augustus rise, his face now sporting a massive black burn across the left side of his face. Augustus deftly ripped one of the smaller crystals from his side and stabbed it into the center of the charred skin, whimpering in pain as he did so. The crystal grew into a shell over the damaged skin. He then turned his gaze to Grey, his gaze fixed upon him. Augustus was seething in fury and pain. Grey's own rage built even further, and the blue glow coming from his blood vessels and heart changed to one of red. Yellow and red energy snapped out of the few cuts and scrapes that hadn't healed up or been cauterized.

Grey let out a bellowing roar before unleashing another blast from his mouth! Augustus raised a crystal barrier before launching an energy attack of his own, which he followed up with a crystal barrage! Grey charged through the needle-like crystals, which did strike, but burst from the sheer amount of energy being emitted by his body! Spread his claws and swung them forward, stabbing into Augustus' chest, just below the ribcage! He immediately used the bones as a gripping point, lifting Augustus by the ribcage and threw him towards the battle raging between the four monsters and leapt after him, energy charging in his gauntlets, which were beginning to glow from the heat!

Grey's thoughts were narrowed to a single, overriding objective. To kill Augustus with his bare hands. Augustus's thoughts were the exact same. The two had become little more than animals, locking in a battle to the death. The two roared as they charged each other, clashing once more.

* * *

Sabrina could only watch the insane struggle between Grey and Augustus from a distance. Once things had escalated, she knew that Grey was becoming dangerous to fight around and took the gamble of retreating to let him fight without distraction. It had been touch and go for a good portion of the fight, but it looked like things were slowing tipping to Grey's favor. At what cost though, was unclear. Grey clearly was not in his right mind. He already was a bit of a brutal fighter, but this was well beyond the norm. That ribcage move was something that had sent a chill down her spine. Additionally, the roaring was becoming much more… animalistic and the fire breath was really disconcerting.

Of course, that all paled in comparison when held up against the four giant monsters. Ever since Biollante joined the fray, things looked to have become even, which was rather disconcerting when she remembered that it was Godzilla, Biollante and Mothra all fighting against this evil Godzilla. The fact that they couldn't deal lasting damage to it was terrifying as it was. However, it was increasingly becoming clear that Mothra was running out of steam, and that Godzilla was more injured than it was letting on. Plus, those red blasts it kept using couldn't be sustainable, no matter how much damage they did.

" _Pardon the interruption, but we have a problem."_

Sabrina jumped a little when Ion's voice crackled over her headset.

"A problem? As far as I can tell, I'm looking at the ultimate problem!" Sabrina responded a bit hysterically.

" _Well, the situation is about to get many times worse. According to the satellites I've been monitoring, E.V.O's just deployed one of its heavy cruisers, and it's armed with a prototype weapon."_ Ion explained. Sabrina took a moment to process this.

"So, what? They coming to do some damage control, considering it was one of their people that stuck this horror on the rest of the world?! Its about time that they did something to ACTUALLY help the world instead of creating more problems for us to handle!" Sabrina half shouted.

" _While I agree with the sentiment, I'm more concerned about the weapon in question. It's been in development since before the program that made me was started. It's called the Particle Acceleration Cannon. It uses multiple miniaturized particle accelerators to create the projectiles. There's thousands of mechanical ways that the gun could fail and the best result we could hope for is that the gun simply doesn't fire. The other problems that could occur include, but are not limited to, a singularity forming and crippling life on Earth, if not outright destroying the earth, detonating in a fashion that turns the earth into slag, permanently damaging Earth's gravity, and many other precursors to extinction-level events, if not planetary destruction."_ Ion explained, leaving Sabrina even more panicked.

"Oh, great! Now we have THAT to deal with! And I'm assuming that trying to blow up the cannon would lead to roughly the same thing happening?!" She asked hysterically.

" _Yes, that would be the case."_ Ion explained in a deadpan manner.

"So, we're just supposed to hope that this weapon doesn't fail, fires and hits its target, kills this target, and that one of a million things don't go wrong and kill us all. Does that about cover it?" Sabrina concluded.

" _In summation, yes."_ Ion agreed.

"We are so dead." Sabrina muttered as she watched battles rage on. How things had gotten so out of hand so quickly was beyond her.

"I swear, if I and the rest of the world survive this, I'm retiring to just teaching…" Sabrina promised herself as Godzilla slashed at his foe again with his claws. Evil Godzilla roared angrily in response and lashed out with his breath attack. Suddenly, the air was filled with a humming noise that was steadily growing stronger. To her awe, she could see what looked like some sort of mash-up of an aircraft carrier and an alien space ship. Mounted on top of it was a colossal cannon.

" _Well, they got here quicker than I expected. I must be lagging a bit."_ Ion remarked as the ship pulled in closer to the battle. The cannon began shifting until it was aiming at Godzilla's evil twin. The other monsters had been pushed back from Godzilla's doppelganger by several crystal spires. As the cannon start charging, a new hum filled the air. The enemy monster took notice of this and roared angrily, charging up a breath attack. However, every other monster capitalized on the opening, unleashing atomic breath, laser blasts and acidic sap upon their foe! Said foe roared in agony and surprise, the energy it was building up dissipating as the onslaught continued!

Meanwhile, the cannon's hum had built to a scream. Sabrina didn't know if it was her enhanced senses or not, but she could feel the power coming from within that cannon and it terrified her. Then a familiar roar broke her out of her stupor, replacing it with new dread.

She looked down to see that Grey and Augustus were locked in combat about three hundred meters from the monsters. Grey looked to have gained the advantage, but that wasn't what she was worried about.

"Ion, what exactly is the blast radius of that cannon, should it actually work and hit evil Godzilla?!" She asked shrilly.

" _I have no idea, but either way, we need to get Grey out of there!"_ Ion replied. Sabrina broke into a dead sprint before leaping into the air to cover as much distance as she could! Grey obviously had an unholy level of tunnel vision at the moment, given that he hadn't registered the presence of the massive death ray that was pointed in evil Godzilla, and by proxy, his direction!

As she got closer though, she heard the scream of the gun vanish. Suddenly, there was a crash of thunder and the screech of a monster. She looked up in awe and saw that had struck true. A stream of strange energy was colliding with the monster. Upon contact with evil Godzilla, the energy began to collect and change, becoming an inky black void. Suddenly, she felt a pulling sensation and realized that the blast was _drawing her closer!_ She spun around and grabbed onto a nearby piece of debris, looking back towards the fight. To her horror, both Grey and Augustus were drawn into the air close to the blast, but not quite into it. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light and a rush of air.

Sabrina wasn't sure how much time had passed before her sight returned, but when it did, she almost wished it handed.

Evil Godzilla lay dead on the ground, about three quarters of his torso looking like they'd been scooped out with an ice cream scoop. What innards hadn't gone with said scoop were strewn about in the cavity. Grey and Augustus were no where to be seen. The monsters stood around the corpse of their enemy, seemingly confused by what had happened. Finally, Godzilla charged up an atomic blast and unleashed it upon the corpse. After it finished with that, it turned and made its way back to the ocean. The other monsters took Godzilla's cue and left.

And like that, it was all over.

Sabrina collapsed to the ground, completely and utterly exhausted. Just as unconsciousness took her, she couldn't help but wonder.

Where was Grey?

* * *

Grey groaned as he slowly came to. As he slowly sat up, he winced in pain. However, as he looked himself over, he couldn't see any injuries. Plenty of scars, though. And where was his shirt?!

He looked down at his gauntlets. They were scuffed and a bit dented, but they still seemed to be working fine. As he rose to his feet, he looked around at his surroundings. He was standing in a forest. Not much more he could tell from his surroundings, though, thus leading to the next obvious question.

"Where the hell am I?"

 **Wow. We're actually done. The end of my longest story is here.**

 **Creativity: *sniff***

 **Author: Alright, go get the tissue boxes. I'll probably need one or two myself.**

 **Alright, all that's left is the retrospective. Please take the time to go look at that and offer your thoughts!**

 **I honestly don't have much else to say here, other than thanks for taking the time to check out this story. And don't you worry. Grey's adventures and insane life aren't done yet. It'll be a little while, but we'll return.**

 **Alright, signing off. See ya in the retrospective!**


	60. Retrospective

**Well, this is it. Until I announce the next story, this is goodbye for a while.**

 **Creativity: Well, aside from whenever we get around to Resurgence and Limit Breaker.**

 **Author: I guess, but I'm talking big stuff.**

 **Anyway, for those who don't know, I'm doing a little look-back on the story as a whole and doing a bit of self-critique. We'll be going season by season to discuss structure, tone, execution and other such bits and bobs. After that, I'll talk about the specials for a bit, since I really had a blast writing them. At the end, I'll do a section about stuff that I wanted to get in there but didn't make the final cut. Everyone ready? Here we go!**

* * *

 **Season 1:**

 **Overall, I'd say season 1 was pretty solid. Its main purpose was to create a foundation on which to lay the overall story on. I think it drags in some places and wasn't quite as gonzo crazy as the other two seasons, but I overall feel that it stuck the landing. The beginning might have been a bit… iffy, I think is a good word, but I think it all worked out.**

 **Season 2:**

 **Overall, I'd say it was the best of all three seasons, and possibly my best published work so far. I had a concise idea of where the story was going at that point and knew how I wanted to get there. The buildup to Biollante, Rose and her siblings, as well as the little subplots that all pointed towards the main story I felt were very well handled. Also, the mutation event I felt was a perfect capstone to the season. Perhaps the best I felt after completing a single season.**

 **Season 3:**

 **Honestly, looking back on all of it, I feel that season 3 was the weakest of all of them. Especially in the second half of the season. I feel it can be chalked up to a mix of creative madness and just wanting the story to end. All the new cross-species was an asset with incredible potential that I just squandered, aside from the cage-fighting chapter, which I had intended to be a much bigger deal originally, but kind of got shafted. I had a ton of ideas I wanted to explore with the whole premise, but part of the problem was that Grey and the rest of the cast were just… 'too big' (I guess?) for this stuff. I needed a story more on the ground level of society for that. However, I feel the last two chapters were the best send-off this story could have.**

 **Specials:**

 **Honestly don't have much to say about these ones, other than that they were just supposed to just be fun little extras. Well, maybe not the second half of the Halloween special, but you know what I mean. Honestly, I think it was either the wedding special or the scorpion eating contest that I enjoyed the most.**

 **In hind-sight:**

 **Like I said before, I wish I could have delved into how I believe society would have been affected by this event. I touched a little bit on this with the cage fighting chapter, but I didn't get to go as far in depth with it as I initially intended. I also wish that I had done more with Rose and the new cast members I introduced in season 3. Who knows? Maybe, when my brain finally decides It's okay to write more in this universe, I'll be able to get some of those ideas out there.**

 **Cut content:**

 **So, there was a few things that I never explained that I wanted to, particularly with Rose. One of the big reveals I had already been planning on back in season 2 that I wanted to do for season 3 was to reveal the Director that Rothstein worked with as the DNA donor for Rose, effectively making her Rose's mother. She's also the same person running Artemis, which was also under-utilized. One thing I also didn't do was have Grey reveal to Augustus that he was the one who killed Yorburg. Considering that both of them were also pretty far off the deep end, I think I'll have to save that for when I eventually get to the sequel.**

* * *

 **Alright, I think that about covers my retrospective.** **I'll let you all know in my other published works, so keep an eye out!**

 **And now, for the final sign off. See ya again soon!**


	61. Teaser

**Alright, everyone! Here we are! I know we're late, but exams REALLY bit into our minds. Man, I was exhausted.**

 **Creativity: Well, I got a nice vacation out of it! Got lots of energy to burn!**

 **Author: Excellent! Now, get on the wheel. We need to restock the BTI ASAP.**

 **So, the poll has come to an end (Later than anticipated, but again, too tired to deal with this stuff until now) and the winner was…**

 **Kingdom Hearts!**

 **Yes, much like I anticipated, Kingdom Hearts stole the top spot.**

 **Now, I've taken to completely restructuring the story from the ground up, at least in general story progression. I stand by the original idea and where it was going, but I think it was just too slow of a start.**

 **So, I've taken the time and hashed out outline of the first set of chapters and am working on them intermittently between study sessions. And with that said, I am presenting this teaser for the story, under a new name:**

 **Before: Kingdom Hearts.**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 _Far off, in a world untouched by a denizen of light, a single figure sat in the middle of a floating island. There were four streams, each only a few inches wide and filled with purple water that flowed across the island, towards the figure that diverged into a perfect circle. Four pillars sat in line with the approaching steams, glowing purple sparks floating a few feet above them._

 _The ground was like sand, gray with small flecks of black. There was a faint glitter to it in spots. The sky was purple, with what looked like black streaks forming an approximation of clouds. The world was composed of rough, black rock islands that floated in the abyss._

 _The figure wore a tattered gray cloak that obscured their body and face. What little of their body was visible was obscured by black bandages, wrapped snug to their skin. The figure's head tilted up before they slowly rose to their feet, seemingly with no effort. They slowly lifted their arms, and large, black obelisks rose from the ground at various locations all over the mysterious world._

 _The figure then walked to one of the pillars and plucked the spark that shimmered above it from the very air._

" _The time is nearly upon us… Now is the time to reveal our story." The figure murmured to the spark, which suddenly turned to a black stone with a strange sigil embossed on the front. Four sparks of energy emerged from its sides that transformed into wings. It suddenly rocketed off and vanished through a portal. The figure turned and returned to its place in the center of the circle._

" _After all this time, the time is finally nigh… how things have changed… how they will change… but will they be ready? Will we?" The figure mused before they fell silent. Now they could only do what they had been doing; wait…_

* * *

 _Meanwhile, deep in the depths of the Dark Realm, a strange weapon lay embedded in the ground. Designed reminiscent of a key, it lay abandoned… dull… dead-looking. Then, it shimmered. The Dark Realm seemingly stirred as the weapon slowly seemed to wake up. But was the Dark Realm responding to the weapon, or was the weapon responding to the Dark Realm?_

 _Or were they both responding to something else…_

 _Something was about to happen, though what it was… who could say?_

* * *

 **Well, that's about it for now. Just a little bit of setup. Most of this will look familiar, but the ending, probably not.**

 **I am approaching how I'd write this story a little different this time and tried to imagine what this story would look like if I was novelizing an existing game and working backwards, almost to the point where I can envision the text crawl at the top of the screen that gives you hints on how to beat the boss.**

 **Creativity: That sounds oddly specific.**

 **Author: Whatever, its true.**

 **Well, that's about the end of it for now! Hope to see you all when the story comes out proper! See you all then!**


	62. Project Announcement

**Hey guys! Sorry this isn't a proper update, but they're coming! As one might have guessed from the title, this is an announcement! An announcement of what, you may ask? Why, we're launching the next primary project!**

 **Creativity: Cue the music! Deploy the confetti!**

 **Author: Not quite. Halfway through writing the thing, I realized I was torn between my traditional style and a different one. Since I couldn't settle on which one, I decided I'd leave it up to the readers! I've written four chapters one style and four in the other. I elaborate more in chapter five, so you'll see what I mean then if you choose to read it.**

 **Creativity: Once all eight chapters are published, we'll probably go dark while we write out the rest of the story, so expect uploads to Limit Breaker and Venom: Resurgence to become more sporadic than usual. We don't want to make the same mistake we made with New Dawn and A Very Bad Idea and turn the stories into work.**

 **Author: Exactly. Well, that's all from us for now! I hope you all feel inclined to give our next project a read!**

 **Creativity: You know, we haven't actually given the title yet.**

 **Author: Oh, yeah… Wow I feel silly.**

 **Well, allow me to rectify that! Our next primary project is titled thus…**

 **BEFORE: KINGDOM HEARTS**

 **Creativity: Wow… The all caps works for that…**


End file.
